Turning Aspirations into Achievement with Swiss Vocational School
If lack of employment generation is one of the major challenges for the country, employability is a major challenge for the youth. Majority of what we call demographic dividends in India face unemployment as much for lacking employability skills as much as it is for actual dearth of employment opportunities.
Generally, after 10th or 12th standards a student stands at a crossroads of choosing the right career path, however, lacking awareness of what it takes to be employable from myriads of the likes of him or her.
Vocational schooling which is a successful method followed in developed countries can come to aid this problem in the country. Vocational schooling in India is yet to make its position parallel to mainstream education because as a society or industry or government, we never took it seriously.
But we can see now why we are struggling with quality and efficiency whereas countries like Switzerland and Germany have progressed by leaps and bounds, leaving us way behind. We aspire for "SWISS" Chocolate, watches, "GERMAN" Machines and Products when it comes to best quality and precision....the key is the quality from the bottom.
The pioneering Swiss Vocational School is the brainchild of Mr. Manish Kothari, Managing Director Rhino Machines and ACE Foundation, and is a timely initiative in the country to address the issue of unemployment and help the aspiring youth reach their goals.
Why Swiss Education System
In Swiss System there are 240+ vocations where the young 16 year olds (70% of them opt for this) take vocational education before transiting to higher education. At the age of 16, normally a student in India would have cleared Class 10 (or appeared for it).Those who do not have a very clear vision of their roadmap in higher education such as being a research scientist in technical, medical, commercial areas; those who are still trying to figure out what’s best for them; those who are from low income group who need to earn and learn &still have a growth path; those who do not wish to study much but acquire some basic life skills – which probably is 70% of the children.
How Swiss Vocational Makes a Difference in Indian Context
Admission of a Swiss Vocational School   (where Industry is already a partner) at age of 16
In 2 years acquire basic skills to   start working in the industry as a mechanical, electrical or any such   single skill – be assured of job of the skill acquired, and be capable of   fulfilling the employer expectations from day one.
Finding the right future – earn, learn and progress
 Take a job and continue
 Take a job and continue
 Go for higher studies – Bachelors or    specialized courses
  acquire min 1-year experience, take    NCVT or equivalent certification
 progress to higher education to the    level of choice or need while working or full time education – options    are open.
The graphical representation shows all the paths – and the most important factor is EMPLOYMENT for the youth and ASSURANCE to the EMPLOYER of the Quality of new workforce.
The objective of starting the Swiss Vocational School was to leverage the human capital into highly productive and efficient quality assets. The Swiss Vocational Education has structured quality training for more than 100 years and had a strong industry and training partnership model. On the other hand, the Indian industry was in need of an appropriately skilled workforce and had a great demographic dividend needing quality training. Rhino and ACE aimed to create professionals with improved soft skills, enhanced professional competencies, having multi-skills and increased productivity and who are self-confident and self-responsible.
The other stakeholders in the Swiss Vocational School were SkillSonics and the Swiss Government and training institutes. SkillSonics has been aligned with SwissMEM (industry associations), SFIVET (Swiss Government), NSDC (Government of India) and CII and FICCI (industry associations). During these long-term associations, SkillSonics has been striving to transfer the Swiss 127+ years’ old solutions to the Indian vocational ecosystem. The Swiss Government and training institutes provide exposure to international training. They offer access to more than 100 years of Quality Training modules. There is a facility of dual certification.
In case of this Swiss Vocational School, in 2015, the training centre setup and marketing had begun. Training was provided to the Rhino trainers and instructors. The first batch of 22 students of a 6-month ITI course was completed. In 2016, training was provided under the SVETII QAP. The first batch of 12 electrical and 10 mechanical 6-month ITS course cleared the NSDC course. In the next year, the SERI-sponsored and SkillSonics-supported TOT in welding and automation had begun. Training was provided to engineers in industrial automation and electro-pneumatics. A partnership was established between Rhino and the Government of Gujarat to bring Swiss training to ITI Santrampur, which is now being kick started on 12th July 2018. In the beginning of 2018, the empanelment in the Government of Gujarat for the Skill Upgradation Centre was completed. Industrial automation training for existing employees of industries, students, and faculties was started. Interaction took place with the Government of Gujarat for Swiss TOT.
The Swiss Vocational Centre has recognized that the need of vocational training in India is very strong, and it has found the correct solution. The center understands that it cannot change the situation overnight, but can work around the system and deliver what it aims at. For this, it has re-tuned and adjusted the curriculum, delivery methodology, and industry participation with government certification. The Swiss Style Apprenticeship training is the fulcrum of reaching the safety, quality and productivity standards that are acceptable at the international level.
The Rhino-ACE vocational school adheres to the Swiss system that is brought by SkillSonics and followed in Switzerland. The courses are aligned to the NSDC SSC courses, and they follow the NAPS route to enlist the students. Students are provided a step-by-step path to enable them for higher education such as degree, masters, diploma and MSPT. The highlight of these courses is that students are assured of employment right from the date they join the program if they clear the levels defined by the Swiss system. At each level, the students can learn more and move up the career path.
Mr. Kothari has through the Swiss Vocational School charted out the following path for 2 of the most common and generic vocations required in the manufacturing industry. The students who are approximately 16years old are given admission, are equipped with basic mechanical, engineering etc. skills to begin work in the industry.
Mr. Kothari has now announced the third batch of production technicians. The intake is of 20 students for Mechanical and 20 students for Electrical. The next batch commences on July 16, 2018.
2nd floor Ariana, Bhumkar Chowk, Marunji Road, Wakad Pune-411057
Phone no: +91-788-780-0015
 Website: https://www.themachinemaker.com
