To meet the need for drones in the agriculture industry, the newly established Kaushalya – The Skill University (KSU) has developed its School of Drones, which will enroll and teach 20,000 children from rural backgrounds and farming families.
Trainer Entrepreneurs In Drone Technology
Due to a lack of available trainers in drone technology, the university devised the concept of "trainer entrepreneurs." For the previous 5 years, the university has been deliberating with stakeholders such as civil aviation, flying schools, drone federations, drone start-ups, and industries to develop a road map.
"Nearly 20,000 students from rural backgrounds and wards of farmers would be given admission preference." They will be trained over five years. This is being done in light of the vast potential of drones in agriculture, ranging from fertilizer spraying to seeding," said Anju Sharma, senior secretary, Department of Labour, Skill Development, and Employment.
School of Drones To Be Built soon By KSU
KSU plans to build the 'School of Drones,' which will provide a variety of skill development programmes embracing the full drone value-chain, from drone flying abilities to assembly and maintenance, as well as value-added services such as data analysis and AI application, among other things.
"The drone school will also support trainer training, research, innovation, incubation, and entrepreneurship to encourage start-ups in the drone and related sectors." "The state has already earmarked Rs 20 crore for infrastructure and training manpower, a substantial portion of which would go into a central laboratory at KSU," Sharma added.
In terms of "trainer entrepreneurs," authorities stated that the university expects to teach at least 100 people with basic drone expertise this year who will be able to instruct others and earn a payment per student.
"Due to changing demand in this industry, rapid technological advancement, and a lack of drone experts, the state government opted not to employ these 100 trainers but to create trainers who can later instruct others while earning," an official involved in the process stated.
These trainers, whose compensation will be tied to their performance, will be paid by the state government through the university in the case of free or subsidised training. The more the number of trainees, the more the trainers receive, with the institution setting the rates.
In light of the likely expansion of the drone industry and its broad use for strengthening governance and accomplishing transformative changes in agriculture, policing, defence, and mining, the state government aims to adopt efforts for human resource development in other industries as well.
