Japan calling Indian youths to shape careers through Technical Intern Training Program – TITP

NEW DELHI/TOKYO: A couple of hundreds of youths from India’s lesser-known locations have successfully made it to Japan, and have raised a ray of hope for the millions of youths seeking to shape up their careers for a better tomorrow.

The Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) appears to have come up as one of the most promising routes for Indian youths who equipped with basic skill sets and working knowledge of Japanese language and culture can land themselves as interns in Japan – the land of Rising Sun.

Meet Ms. Anchal from Sonepat, Haryana, and Ms. Pranita Thapa from Darjeeling, West Bengal, who were among those 220 interns India has sent to Japan since 2018 and were lucky enough to reach Japan just before the country declared a state of emergency in some of its parts.

Currently, they are working in the city of Nagasaki at a leading caregiving facility, where they are drawing a monthly package of around 1.6 Lakhs JPY with a provision of paid accommodation support and other perks.

These Indian interns currently working in Japan were placed by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)’s Sending Organization (SO) -Learnet Skills Limited (formerly known as IL&FS Skills Development Corporation).

These interns received training under TITP in Geriatric Care course in India before entering Japan. They were also oriented towards the Japanese culture, customs and tradition as part of their training in India through Learnet.

Anchal and Pranita are enjoying other perks and benefits over and above their internship wages.

Both interns are acclimatizing well with Japan and making efforts to establish a strong bond with their Japanese employers. Apart from the Japanese food, people, and its rich culture, Anchal and Pranita are enjoying the early blooms of the Sakura season.

They feel that TITP has completely wonderfully transformed their lives. They intend to call their friends too to Japan, aspiring to work there and take advantage of programs like TITP.

After completion of their 3-year term as interns in Japan, a promising career awaits them as, like other TITP interns, they can be employed by the Japanese or Indian companies in India and offer them handsome salaries.

Being run by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) through the support of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India, the TITP promotes international collaboration through the transfer of skills, technology, and knowledge with Japan thereby contributing towards human resource development.

It offers training to the youths for a period of three years in Japan’s industrial society.

Related article: Japan must change its mindset, welcome TITP trainees from India 

The challenge is India entered into TITP in late 2017, as compared to many other countries such as China, Vietnam, and others that have been associated with Japan for more than 25 years through this program, and sent hundreds of thousands of interns to Japan.

However, India managed to reach a count of 220 interns despite the Covid19 lockdown for almost the entire year in 2020 and the international flight disruptions from which are continuing.

India has a gigantic task ahead to take it forward on the TITP front as unlike other countries as its demographics make the program a challenge.

What is TITP?

NSDC through Request for Proposal (RFP) empanels Sending Organizations (SOs) who identify candidates as per the defined eligibility criterion and conduct Pre-Departure Training of their candidates.

These SOs ensure that the candidates are trained on the Japanese language training aspect up to the level as desired by the Supervising Organizations.

Other training elements include Japanese lifestyle, manners, social and professional etiquettes in order to impart the knowledge essential for living in Japan, and the requisite domain training ( if required).

The program promotes international collaboration through the transfer of skills, technology, and knowledge among the participating countries thereby, contributing towards human resource development. It offers training to the workers for a specific period (3 – 5 years) in Japan’s industrial society.

The objective is to ensure that the most competent youth is selected and sent to Japan to participate in TITP.

Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India and the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan signed a Memorandum of Cooperation initiating the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) in India in October 2017.