“Our Top Priority is to Setup Multiple Skill Centres”: TSSC

Spotlight on Skills Development | TelecomDrive.com

Telecom Sector Skill Council or TSSC is making a big positive impact on the telecom sector skills development in India, it has already helped more than 1 million candidates on its journey so far. Its top priority for the next year is to setup multiple skill centres and collaborate with industry leaders to identify and focus on new technologies and teaching modalities.

Arvind Bali, CEO, Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) speaks with Zia Askari from TelecomDrive.com about TSSC’s journey so far in India and its plans for year 2022.

What is the big focus for TSSC when it comes to enabling skill-based education in India's telecoms space?

TSSC has a multi-level approach for the future of the ICT skill development sector in India. Our primary focus is to develop modules and courses for futuristic technologies like 5G, ML/AI, Drone technology, and many more. We have already begun the development of courses in 5G and advanced cyber-surveillance with our partners. Secondly, we are actively creating Centres of Excellence (CoE) which will be the infrastructure necessary to impart these courses in the best possible manner. Third, we are developing our LMS platform with an aim to impart quality skilling digitally. We have partnered with leading organizations to leverage their expertise in this domain and create a holistic platform that can cater to the ICT domain and beyond. Finally, we have created a job portal TELCOJOBS.IN which will provide the industry and candidates a common platform to interact. By, removing the obstacles for hiring in blue collar domain, we are helping achieve efficient and timely hiring to maintain business continuity.

How do you look at the upcoming technologies that will hold importance for skilling and reskilling telecom sector in the year 2022?

5G is the biggest technological shift in the coming year. With the spectrum auctions slated to happen and influx of 5G ready handsets and services in the market, it will be the biggest disruptor in ICT. Ancillary technologies like AI and cloud will help accelerate the usage of 5G and thus are also part of our pipeline. The shift to digital is quite evident now with rural penetration increasing manyfold.
India has also invited investments in electronic and semiconductor manufacturing. This avenue will put India as the top skill exporter in roles such as line assemblers and will create new jobs for semiconductor fabrication in the coming years.

Over the past few years, technology led education has given a whole new meaning to delivering skillsets. How is TSSC utilising technology to enable skills development?

The industry is responding positively to our initiative. We are also developing a learning management system (LMS) to impart skills digitally. The system houses both instructor-led and self-paced courses. We are also exploring new avenues like AR/VR/XR for training such that remote candidates can also have a shop floor like experience despite lack of access to the tools and equipment physically. TSSC has launched its job portal TELCOJOBS.IN which caters to providing employment for youth in ICT job roles.

What are some of the big innovations and disruptions that we can expect from TSSC in skilling telecoms workforce in India for year 2022?

I think TSSC has completely evolved because of this pandemic. As we understood the turn this pandemic was taking last year, we started thinking like our students and figured out the best solutions to their problems. As our biggest stakeholders, the upliftment and betterment of these students takes precedence in our mission. We will focus on exposing the students to new stimuli and give them a taste of what the ICT industry is shaping up to be. We want to sensitize and enable them to become job-ready or spark an entrepreneurial fire in them to start their own shop.

Please share details on how much TSSC has impacted the telecoms space in India so far (number of people trained / skilled so far)? And what are your plans for year 2022?

TSSC has proudly helped more than 1 million candidates on our journey. We have over 40 industry partners and operate PAN India. Our top priority for the next year is to setup multiple skill centres and collaborate with industry leaders to identify and implement and incorporate new technologies and teaching modalities. We will also increase our international presence and CSR projects. I have high hopes that the next year will be the revival from the COVID setback the nation has faced.

This interview is published in the December 2021 issue of Disruptive Telecoms