Nasscom to roll out NAC test in Nov

The Nasscom Assessment of Competence (NAC) programme will be launched nationwide in November to enhance the reach of the ITeS-BPO industry to tier II and tier III cities and spread awareness about the sector's job opportunities.

Nasscom president Kiran Karnik told reporters during the Nasscom India ITES BPO Strategy Summit here that the NAC programme is aimed at enhancing the skill sets of candidates willing to enter the IT/BPO industry.

"A vast talent potential is lying untapped as its skills are yet to be upgraded to the level required by the IT and BPO industry. The Nasscom Assessment of Competence programme will assess the skill sets of each candidate and award grades. If the candidate's scores are low, he/she can get trained in the necessary skill sets before applying for a job," he added.

The Nasscom Assessment of Competence programme will test the following skills of candidates: written and spoken English, communication skills, keyboard abilities, quantitative, logical and analytical skills.

"The online testing module has been evolved after consulting BPO and IT firms. We intend to test at least 2 lakh candidates every year. To begin with, graduates will be eligible to take the test. If the BPO industry wants the qualification lowered, we can do that," he added.

According to Nasscom, only around 25 per cent of technical graduates and 10-15 per cent of college students are found suitable for employment in the IT and BPO sectors. It is estimated that by 2010, India may have a possible workforce shortfall of five lakh. Of this, the BPO gap will be around 3.5 lakh.

"The idea is to create a robust and continuous pipeline of talent by transforming the trainable workforce into an employable workforce. We will partner state governments to ensure that they pay the test fee of the candidates," Karnik stated. Nasscom expects the training ecosystem to develop around the NAC programme.

"It is for the first time that such standardised tests have been developed on the lines of SAT, GMAT and GRE examinations, for the BPO industry. In the subsequent phase, NAC will be extended to 30 cities," he noted.

The Nasscom Assessment of Competence test was launched on a pilot basis in August 2005. About 6,000 candidates took the test.