NSDC Partners With California State University Long Beach To Enrich Digital Offering For Skill Seekers

In its commitment to strengthen Skill India Mission, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has joined hands with California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) to address the growing need for a digitally skilled workforce in India. Through this initiative, led by NSDC’s digital skilling unit- eSkillIndia, CSULB will be cataloguing 200+ free courses for the skill seekers. The partnership will also witness integration of CSULB’s platform - Skills Commons and MERLOT with eSkillindia.org to drive e-learning amongst the youth in the country. 

eSkillIndia and California State University Long Beach will initially add courses from sectors such as healthcare, management, information technology, finance, employability skills etc. There will be a special focus on courses for upskilling of trainers. The courses will range from 2 hours to 30 hours, providing the total digital content of 900 hours.

eSkillIndia is a digital skilling initiative from NSDC that aggregates digital learning resources through various Indian and global knowledge partnerships, to enable access to best-in-class learning resources for the Indian youth. Presently, the portal catalogues over 825 digital courses from its partners and additional 4000+ courses are connected through affiliate channels across various sectors in multiple languages, providing learners with the technology and skills needed to prosper in a rapidly transforming digital world. 

Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC, said, “Online learning is paving the way for digital transformation.  NSDC is facilitating acquisition of online skills, which can help realize the immense potential of youth to leverage existing as well as emerging opportunities.”

“Partnering with NSDC’s digital skilling initiative eSkill India to develop people’s workforce skills employment in the 21st century is core to our mission. By providing free and easy access to industry-centered training materials, NSDC and California State University Long Beach can deliver online learning to all and improve the well-being of all,” comments Dr. Gerard L. Hanley, Executive Director, California State University (SkillsCommons and MERLOT). 

The California State University Long Beach is ranked in the top 1% of all public universities in the USA, with 55% of the almost 40,000 CSULB students being 1st generation college students.   CSULB produces over $1.5 billion economic impact in the local region through its diverse programs.

About National Skill Development Corporation

National Skill Development Corporation, working under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, is a unique public-private-partnership which aims to catalyze creation of quality vocational training ecosystem in India. Since inception in 2010, NSDC has trained more than 2.5 crore people through its partnership with 600+ training partners, 11,000+ training centers spread over 600+ districts across the country. NSDC has established 37 Sector Skill Councils and is implementing Government’s flagship skill development schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), among others.

About eSkill India

NSDC’s eSkill India is an elearning aggregator portal that provides learners with a platform to explore online skill-courses anytime, anywhere. The portal leverages technology to enable skill seekers accelerate their learning through methods like virtual learning and remote classroom. Across 10 Indian languages, eSkillIndia offers over 16 lakh minutes of high-quality digital content that spans various industry sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, telecommunication, retail, pharmaceutical, banking and finance, electronics and information technology. 

About California State University, Long Beach

California State University, Long Beach is a public university and is one of the largest universities in the state of California by enrollment. CSULB is home to a number of auxiliary organizations, programs, and initiatives, including MERLOT and SkillsCommons. SkillsCommons (www.skillscommons.org) is the world’s largest open educational resources library for workforce development and industry training materials. MERLOT (www.merlot.org) is a free and open online library that provides easy and worldwide access to free open educational resources for academic programs through its own curated collection and “smart search” of over 75 other free and open libraries of instructional content.