One of the largest staffing company, TeamLease Services has signed an agreement with the Gujarat Government to set up the country's first Vocational Education University. To be named as TeamLease University (TLU), the project will see setting up of 22 community colleges across Gujarat that will offer two year associate degree programs in collaboration with employers.
"The university will synthesize everything we stand for; strong employer linkages, learning-by-doing, vertical mobility of diplomas to degrees, taking training to students and quality at scale. We are proud to partner with Gujarat for this innovation in India’s university system," said Manish Sabharwal, chairman of TeamLease Services. While 22 community colleges are likely to come up over 36 months, the first 10 will be set up over the next 18 months. The two year associate degree programs is aimed at filling the gap between shorter certificate/diploma courses (provided by TeamLease subsidiary IIJT) and traditional degree colleges.
Hasmukh Adhia, Principal Secretary, Education, GoG, said, "Youth unemployability is a bigger problem than youth unemployment. The government of Gujarat has made human capital an important priority in all our actions and we believe that community colleges offering programs with strong employment linkages are an important part of the solution."
The university will use a multi-modal delivery model that will include satellite delivery from studios in Ahmedabad, Delhi and Bangalore, classroom instruction, e-learning and on-the-job training. Each community college will have technology at the heart of operations with online communities/portals for students and faculty, biometric attendance systems, and satellite classrooms.
Moreover, each course will be offered in partnership with employers who will serve on the course review panel which will meet quarterly to review admission criteria, curriculum, assessments, faculty trainer, exams and much else.
