Context

Union HRD Minister launches the Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS).

About

• The scheme has been launched by the Ministry of Human Resources Development for providing industry apprenticeship opportunities to the general graduates exiting in April 2019 through the National Apprenticeship Promotional Scheme (NAPS).
• It comprises of the initiatives of three Central Ministries, namely the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and the Ministry of Labour& Employment viz the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), the National Career Service (NCS)and introduction of BA/BSc/BCom (Professional) courses in the higher educational institutions.

• The programme is conceived for students in degree courses, primarily non-technical, with a view to introduce employable skills into their learning, promote apprenticeship as integral to education and also amalgamate employment facilitating efforts of the Government into the education system so that clear pathways towards employment opportunities are available to students during and after their graduation.
• NAPS provides for placing of apprentices upto 10% of the total work force in every business/industry. 
• The scheme will be implemented by the Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) , initially the Banking Finance Insurance Services (BFSI), Retail, Health care, Telecom, Logistics, Media, Management services, ITeS and Apparel.  More sectors would be added over time with emerging apprenticeship demand and curriculum adjustments.
• Under the NAPS scheme, Central Government shares 25% of the stipend per month subject to a maximum of Rs.1500 p.m during the period of the apprenticeship.  Apart from that, an amount upto Rs.7500 will be met towards basic training cost, where needed.

Aim of SHREYAS:

The aim is to enhance the employability of Indian youth by providing ‘on the job work exposure’ and earning of stipend. In all the tracks together, it is proposed to cover 50 lakh students by 2022.

Objectives of SHREYAS:

• To improve employability of students by introducing employment relevance into the learning process of the higher education system.
• To forge a close functional link between education and industry/service sectors on a sustainable basis.
• To provide skills which are in demand, to the students in a dynamic manner.
• To establish an ‘earn while you learn’ system into higher education.
• To help business/industry in securing good quality manpower.
• To link student community with employment facilitating efforts of the Government.