by Amarr Prabhu
MUMBAI, DEC 30, 2017: The Government of Maharashtra had recently introduced a National Skill qualification Framework (NSQF) aligned syllabus level 1 
and 2 for standards nine and ten across government managed and aided technical schools. With a major shift in syllabus, the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (GoM,) through its regional office of Mumbai conducted a pre-vocational instructor training programme on elements of mechanical technology, syllabus (NSQE Base) for 47 school instructors at Saint Joseph's ITI (SJITI)-Don Bosco Centre for Learning from December 19 to 21.
The three-day practical programme gave participants an insight about the outcomes of the course and the teaching learning methodologies to be adopted. The chief guest for the event was Gaikwad, inspector quality and inspection, regional office Mumbai. Gaikwad alongside Father Mario Vaz and Manjrekar, an officer at DEVEO, and Amarr Prabhu, principal- SJITI inaugurated the programme.
The programme began with the traditional lighting of the lamp. Father Vaz welcomed the participants by briefly sharing the development of SJITI to its present status as the 'Don Bosco Centre for Learning' campus. Gaikwad explained the importance of the new initiative of vocational technical studies by the government and the responsibility of teachers. He also explained why Don Bosco, Kurla was selected as the training partner.
GA Soman gave an insight as to how Don Bosco Maritime Academy plays a major role in training candidates to compete and win at international competitions. Prabhu introduced the faculty members that would conduct the training and the schedule of the programme.
Shrivastava then spoke about the National Skill Qualification forum and its role in training, formulating the syllabus as well as the rationale of a competency based curriculum. The post lunch session was all about welding. Kamble and his instructors divided the participants into small groups to get first hand experience of how a welding facility should be set up and how training from the basic to complex welding can be imparted. The group was then introduced to the fitting section. Pranay Patil explained the various tools and measuring instruments used in the fitting section and some of the typical exercises that are performed by trainees.
The second day began with Walter D'mello explaining about safety rules to be followed on the shop floor, the use of fire extinguishers and other fire safety procedures. The plumbing section was the next stop. The importance of correct use of plumbing tools and information of all plumbing accessories including the very modern high end ones were demonstrated.
Rajan Patil explained the various tools, wood joints and types of wood in the carpentry section. The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to a visit to the Godrej and Boyce factory workshop situated at Vikhroli. This gave the visitors an understanding of how technical skills are put to use in the industry as well as how skill competencies play a major role in production.
The third day began with a brief session by Dr Devyani on other aspects, such as counselling sessions also known as 'Beyond Skills'. The participants were then divided into two groups. One group was exposed to sheet metal work under Shekar Karkera, and given a brief introduction to sheet metal tools and two jobs- a tray and shovel were made. The other group was introduced to lathe machines, lathe tools and lathe operations by Edmond Anthoni. The groups were also offered an introduction to mechanical joining and adhesive bonding.
Viraf conducted a session on various industrial practices like Kaizen and Project work, and explained the advantages gained from encouraging students to think and give suggestions thus contributing to best practices and innovations.
The entire programme concluded with a valedictory function. AJ Sawants, assistant director, vocational trades, Father Colbert da silva, Rector – Director DBCL, Gaikwad, Manjrekar, and Prabhu were on the dais. After a brief introduction, the programme host invited the participants to share their experiences.
All who responded were unanimous about the depth of knowledge the instructors had concerning the different trades. They commended the manner in which the facilities were set up and the effective teaching-learning methodologies adopted.
Father Da Silva then touched upon the Don Bosco culture. He stated that he was happy that even though Don Bosco cannot reach students in the interior parts of the state, they could achieve it through the teacher-training programme.
Sawant expressed his gratitude to the entire team of SJITI and the resource personnel. He also praised the state-of-the-art labs and workshops set up by Don Bosco. He felt conducting this training programme at Don Bosco Centre for Learning was fully justified and he urged the state government to organise more such trainings at Don Bosco, Kurla.