Mumbai : The National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD), under the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), is conducting a 12-day International Training Programme on “Strengthening the Public–Private Partnership Model in the South Sudan TVET Ecosystem” from 02 to 12 December 2025.

The programme is organised under the sponsorship of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) initiative, in collaboration with UNESCO. The programme has brought together 28 participants from South Sudan, including senior officials from the Ministries of General Education and Instruction, Labour, Youth and Sports, and Higher Education, Science and Technology, along with representatives from the private sector. High-level representatives are expected to join later this week including 3 ministers from the republic of South Sudan.

The programme aims to strengthen South Sudan’s institutional capacities in the areas of TVET governance, public–private partnership frameworks, entrepreneurship development, and industry-integrated skilling models. It also seeks to provide the delegation with deep insights into India’s whole-of-government skilling architecture, including MSDE’s flagship schemes, standards-setting processes, quality assurance mechanisms, and digital skilling innovations.

As part of the programme, the South Sudan delegation today visited Kaushal Bhawan, New Delhi, today and interacted with Ms. Debashree Mukherjee, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.

Welcoming the delegation, the Secretary highlighted India’s comprehensive skilling architecture anchored by MSDE, which brings together institutions such as DGT, NCVET, NSDC, Sector Skill Councils, NIESBUD, IIE, JSSs and RDSDEs through a unified and coordinated approach. She emphasised the centrality of public–private partnerships, India’s efforts to integrate entrepreneurship into TVET outcomes, and the growing scope for bilateral cooperation in areas such as agriculture-based livelihoods, construction skills, women-centric skilling, digital skilling, and community-based training models.

The Secretary underlined that India attaches great value to its developmental partnership with South Sudan and expressed confidence that this programme will contribute meaningfully to the strengthening of South Sudan’s national skilling ecosystem.

During the visit, the delegates participated in a series of thematic sessions led by MSDE’s key institutions. The sessions covered Overview of MSDE’s Schemes and Initiatives, Governance & Quality Assurance Frameworks for Industry-Aligned Skilling, Long-term Vocational Training in India, and Digital Skilling & Emerging Technology Initiatives.

These sessions provided the delegation with a comprehensive understanding of India’s standards-driven, market-responsive, and digitally enabled skilling ecosystem.

Ms. Archana Mayaram, Economic Adviser, MSDE; Ms. Hena Usman, Joint Secretary, MSDE; Dr. Poonam Sinha, Director General, NIESBUD; Shri Pritam Dutta, Director, MSDE; Dr. Shivani Dey, Director, NIESBUD; Col. Vikram Singh Bhati, Director, NCVET; Shri Himanshu Gunawat, Deputy Secretary, MSDE, and Mr. Jian Xi Teng from UNESCO were present on the occasion.

Over the 12-day duration, the participants will be exposed to India’s approaches to qualification standard-setting, industry-led curriculum design, entrepreneurship promotion, digital learning systems, RPL frameworks, women-centric skilling initiatives, and sector-based PPP models. Field visits, institutional interactions, and experience-sharing sessions with ministries, Sector Skill Councils, premier training institutions, and industry bodies will form an integral part of the programme.

The initiative reinforces India’s commitment to capacity building, knowledge exchange, and fostering long-term cooperation with partner nations under the ITEC framework.