With a view to enable the students to face the job market in a better manner and secure a career of their choice, Haryana government has planned to include mandatory components of soft skills for its degree students.

To begin with, it has been decided to prepare a handbook on soft skill which could help students in developing communication skills, life skills and business skills.

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A spokesperson of Higher Education Department said that the objective of the handbook was to create confidence among the students which would not only help them in routine communication but also prepare them for the job market.

He said that a committee would be constituted for drafting this handbook. For larger participation, a group of 20 teachers preferably of Psychology and English subjects would be formed to provide inputs and further assist in preparing modules or sections besides assisting the committee in drafting the final version.

The interested teachers could send their nomination on official e-mail ID in prescribed format within seven days, he added.

The spokesperson further stated that the state government had been continuously making tremendous efforts to improve the facilities for higher and technical education, ecosystem in the state.

The state had achieved remarkable progress in its higher and technical education sector and was committed in its endeavour to further provide quality education to its students.

He said that one of the key concerns faced by our students was that majority of them lack appropriate proficiency in soft skills and digital literacy.

The lack of competence in soft skills was one of the major issues for the students to land with better job opportunities in leading national and multinational companies in private sector.

These days employers consider critical thinking, problem-solving and working within a group or team to be essential for working in a modern business environment.

The ability to communicate effectively was often quoted as pre-requisite criteria in many of the present job profiles.

It was recognised that candidates who demonstrated the basic core skills coupled with an understanding of the use of soft skills and digital technology were more likely to gain employment than those with just core skills, he added.

The spokesperson said that challenge faced by our students was that even though they possessed adequate core skills matching to the requirement of the jobs, the skills acquired through academic degree, programmes, seldom prepared them adequately in the twin areas of soft skills and digital literacy.

Therefore, a clear intervention was necessary to facilitate them in equipping with industry driven soft skills and digital literacy skills and enhance their employability to required levels, he added.

He said that the department had taken various initiatives to overcome these shortcomings by working closely with the industry associations and individual consultants to augment the opportunities available for the students in the state.