By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, December 3, 2018: Odisha on Monday signed an agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a loan of $85 million to to improve skill development eco-system in Odisha and establish World Skill Centre (WSC) here.

The total cost of the project is $193 million with the Odisha government contributing $108 million.

The project will help skilling more than 1.5 lakh people in priority sectors, including manufacturing, construction and services for formal employment, ADB officials said here.

WSC will provide eight training courses for 13,000 full-time students, impart training for 5,000 teachers and train 1,000 assessors.

It will improve the overall eco-system of skill development in Odisha by providing integrated services through an entrepreneurship incubation centre, a career counselling and placement centre, a curriculum design and development centre, and education technology deployment centre, it added.
officials said.

With this assistance, youths in the age group of 15-34 years will be given skill development training to make them competent to get better work and higher paying jobs, an official release statement said.

Besides, the Japanese government will provide technical aid for capacity building through the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.

The ADB would also provide $2 million as technical assistance for capacity b

uilding component of the project.

The Odisha Skill Development Authority and ITE Education Services, Singapore will cooperate in the establishment and operation of WSC here.

The WSC would also act as a hub for all the Spoke ITIs to train the youths, advising on the curriculum development and developing the infrastructure of the ITIs.

The project aims to significantly reduce unemployment and under-employment rates in Odisha by 2025, the officials added.