Punjab partners with Microsoft to train 10,000 youth

Punjab Skill Development Mission (PSDM) on Friday inked a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft to ingrain essential skills to at least 10,000 youth of the state in a year. The MoU was signed by PSDM Director Amrit Singh and Country Head Education Microsoft Corporation (India) Sanjay Dhingra, said an official statement.

Punjab’s Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister Aman Arora said that this collaboration will pave the way to inculcate skills to 10,000 youth in the state with essential digital productivity skills, employability skills, English communication skills, entrepreneurship skills, and technology skills, including cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), cyber security and sustainability.

The department has not been leaving any stone unturned to facilitate employment opportunities for the youth of Punjab, he said.

Elaborating on the collaboration, Singh said the comprehensive future skills collaboration with Microsoft for 2024-25 includes multiple targeted initiatives designed to address the specific needs of diverse learners catered by PSDM, aiming to enhance their skills and competence according to global needs and provide them with employment opportunities in an AI-enabled economy for better livelihoods.

She also emphasized that the Department of Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training is determined to cater to the manpower requirements of the industry by providing them the skilled youth from Punjab.

More MoUs will be signed with other companies in the near future, she added. PTI