Giving a fillip to the skill development in the state, "India Skills Kerala" was inaugurated here on Saturday by Labour and Skills Minister T P Ramakrishnan, witnessing participation of 253 people from as many as 39 disciplines for the three-day event.
"The government has initiated several skill development programmes. India Skills Kerala is part of that mission," said Ramakrishnan.
He said that Kerala will soon have its own state skills policy.
"Government would come up with a career policy shortly considering a recent surge in the importance of technology in the new age," he said.
"We must promote a culture where students earn while studying. The state needs its youth in educational institutions to do part-time jobs," he added.
The event was organised by the Industrial Training Department (ITD) and Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), both under the Labour and Skills Department.
India Skills Kerala comes as a result of its district-level competitions held last month, with 4,298 contestants. The 1,278 winners among them subsequently qualified for the zonal rounds held separately for the north, central and south regions of the state.