Academy for Skills Excellence to be set up

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Labour Department, in association with Smart City Kochi, will set up the Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE) to offer skill development programmes in various sectors. The decision was taken at a meeting held between Labour Minister Shibu Baby John and Smart City Kochi managing director Babu George here on Monday. The academy to function under full government control will offer skill development programmes for the unemployed youths in the state, the minister said in a release here on Monday.A sum of Rs 10 crore has been sanctioned for the project. Youths will be imparted training in construction and infrastructure, retail, tourism, healthcare and hospitality, IT, banking, financial services and media. The project is expected to give a boost to the technical education sector, he said. The academy will have associations with technical institutions of international standards. Industrial Training Department director K Biju also attended the discussion.