LSSSDC’s partners with PCI to boost employability skills of B. Pharmacy students in India

The Life Sciences Sector Skill Development Council (LSSSDC) in collaboration with Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has announced that it will be offering integrated NSFQ aligned Skill Packs/QP for B. Pharma VIII semester students as one of the elective subjects.

These electives will be available for colleges starting January 2021 onwards and will enhance the employability skills of pharmacy students as per industry requirements.

To formalise and discuss this, LSSSDC and PCI hosted a Virtual Meeting— with the presence of over 300 B. Pharma colleges and universities. Dr B Suresh, President, Pharmacy Council of India and Ranjit Madan, CEO and Joint Apprenticeship Advisor, LSSSDC addressed the academia regarding the initiative, with other senior officials from PCI and LSSSDC participating.

Madan highlighted the strong connection with Industry which LSSSDC has established, leveraging the presence of all active/ major Associations in the Governing Body (GB), now reinforced by presence of the top five companies in the GB.

There has been deep involvement of Industry in each element of skilling chain, culminating in successful apprenticeship and placement.

Students from colleges under PCI can derive significant benefit from this. Suresh emphasised that PCI is looking at possible measures to revamp its curriculum to make it more Industry aligned. Accordingly, integration of NSQF aligned LSSSDC QP/Curriculum with B. Pharma courses will be a significant step towards development of employability skills of B. Pharma graduates.

He added that LSSSDC’s strong bonding with the pharmaceutical industries at regional level would support the academia with apprenticeship cum placement linkages. In addition, the close and growing partnership between PCI and LSSSDC will facilitate Industry- Academia collaboration.

To sum up, this joint initiative intends to bring industry and academia in the Life Sciences sector closer, making the candidates desirous of joining the sector more productive and job ready, thereby meeting the growing demand for skilled workforce of the sector.

The expected enhancement in employability skills of candidates, as an outcome of the partnership, could make the PCI- LSSSDC initiative a true game changer.