Guwahati: The nation’s three Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) will be transformed into “Green ITIs” by the nonprofit Quest Alliance.
The Government Women’s ITI in Mangalore, Karnataka, will be the first ITI in the nation to go green. Early this month, development on the Green ITI began. The Government ITI Halol in Gujarat and the Government ITI Srikona in Silchar in Assam will both launch the pilot venture.
Quest Alliance will collaborate with the chosen institutions to co-create Green ITIs as part of the pilot project. The greening of the ITIs will be tackled on three levels: learner readiness for green careers, cognitive readiness, and infrastructure readiness.
The campuses of these ITIs will be made environmentally friendly from an infrastructure standpoint with the ultimate goal of making them carbon neutral. Infrastructure will be subject to a green audit by Quest Alliance, and based on the results of the audit, a unique plan will be developed for each of the chosen ITIs. The green plan calls for trash management, solar energy, rainwater collection, and sustainable gardening.
Shivakumar S, In-charge Principal of the Government Women’s ITI, Mangalore, said, “Our institute plans to become a green ITI and inspire students to pursue green careers. We also want to build a green mindset among students. We plan to conduct an audit of the institution and then chalk out plans of how we can make the ITI green.”
Secondly, at the Cognitive level, students will be encouraged to assess challenges within their ITI campuses and build green solutions to address local issues. The pilot project will work towards developing a green mindset among students through a host of programmes such as hackathons, workshops, sensitization programmes, etc.
Thirdly, students of these ITIs will be prepared for green careers. Guest lectures and talks will provide the students with insights into trends and challenges in the emerging green sector. The students of these ITIs will also be provided with career guidance, internship opportunities and placements through Industry engagement initiatives.
“The looming climate crisis and the trends in the future of work point towards green careers. Most of the students of ITIs currently work in traditional industries but the green industry is the emerging industry. Young people in ITIs will need to not only build skills, but also have a mindset that will enable them to navigate future career pathways and make meaningful change in the world. Our objective is to work with ITIs and support learners for the green industry,” said Aakash Sethi, CEO, Quest Alliance.
He continued, “It is crucial to make sure that these kids have a sense of duty towards sustainable development because they will end up working across industries, many of which are highly polluting.”
A non-profit organisation called Quest Alliance encourages self-learning to provide young people the skills they need for the twenty-first century. We create adaptable solutions that give teachers the tools they need to close significant gaps in high-quality instruction and skill development. We support collaborative learning networks and systemic change driven by research and innovation.