Kerala to Send Students to Germany for Dual Training; Indo-German Fair in February

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s General Education and Labour Minister V Sivankutty on Saturday outlined a series of major initiatives to be rolled out over the next three months to strengthen the labour sector and expand skill development opportunities for youth across the state.

Addressing a press conference, the minister said the Labour and Skills Department’s plans will focus on five key areas, including financial support for trainees, global job linkages, infrastructure modernisation, digital employment services, and worker welfare.

Under youth -focused schemes, the government will launch “Connect to Work”, which offers a monthly stipend of 1,000 rupees to those undergoing skill training and candidates preparing for competitive examinations. A total of 600 crore rupees has been earmarked for the scheme. Another initiative, the “Karmachari Scheme”, to be implemented in partnership with employers to promote a work culture among students alongside their studies, will be inaugurated in the first week of February.

Highlighting overseas opportunities, Sivankutty said students will be sent to Germany for Dual Vocational Training programmes where they can receive stipends of up to 130,000 rupees per month. The first Indo-German Training Fair is scheduled for the fourth week of February, expected to benefit around 500 students. An MoU with the German state of Hessen is set to be signed in the second week of March.

On infrastructure, the minister announced the establishment of an Innovation and Research Park in Kottarakkara to provide training in drone technology. A transit campus will begin operations at Ezhukone Polytechnic in the second week of February. A 45 crore rupees Skill Complex at Chala in Thiruvananthapuram will see its construction inauguration in the third week of March. In addition, an industry-supported project to modernise ITIs across the state at a cost of 482 crore rupees will begin in March. New ITI buildings at Varkala, Peringome in Kannur, Kuttikol in Kasaragod, and Maniyoor in Kozhikode will be commissioned in February.

Employment services are also being digitised. Model Career Centres are ready in Kannur and Taliparamba, while Career Development Centres at Karamana and Chelakkara will open in February. The Model Employment Exchange in Kozhikode will start functioning by the end of January.

In the worker welfare segment, an accidental death insurance scheme of 5 lakh rupees will be introduced in the second week of February for workers registered under the Wage Protection System, with a worker contribution of 150 rupees. A special loan scheme for motor workers to purchase autorickshaws will also begin in February. Further, a mobile app enabling around 600,000 factory workers to lodge complaints in 12 languages will be launched in the third week of February.

Sivankutty said the government is committed to completing these projects on schedule, describing them as transformative steps for Kerala’s labour and skill development ecosystem.