Day: June 20, 2021

Anil Puri CMD, APS group A thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, and one who has mastered the art of strategic and tactical thinking to the core. He has been using this combination to seed new ideas and to lead them to their implementation on-ground. This has been a consistent feature of his career. He has rich experience of approximately 35 years in corporate in diverse domains & from functional managerial level to apex as chairman of a corporate group. Training has been very close to his heart and has always occupied center stage in planning the businesses. He has been instrumental in building a team of highly qualified training professionals on Pan India basis to develop security protocols and deliver client and site specific training to enable the security personnel at premises of esteemed clientele. He has established ‘APS Centre of Excellence’ a training institution, a state-of-the-art training facility accredited with MEPSC and approved by PSARA Controlling Authority which has earned a place for itself in skilling of security personnel in PSI domain. He has also pioneered the virtual training of security personnel within the APS Group. Concept of Mobile Training Van was also his brain child which has risen in popularity chart. Here he has chosen to share his thoughts on the impact of Covid pandemic and future of the virtual training in PSI domain. INTRODUCTION It’s been unprecedented time across the globe. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to many significant changes in the way we live, learn and work. The novel Coronavirus or Covid-19 has changed how millions around the globe are educated and skilled. The spread and the fear of infection of Coronavirus has shut down almost all training centers and educational institutions. In the wake of an unprecedented lockdown period, the skilling ecosystem/ educational system is moving online as far as possible, turning classrooms into online spaces and teachers into virtual educators. Various authorities in their respective domains and realms, at the MNC corporate level/ at the higher educational institutions, and/ or at the school level, have been proposing the setting up of virtual classrooms for e-learning. The institutions for the past one year have geared up in full stream to conduct remote learning. The new paradigm shift in approaches to learning have not only narrowed down the equality gaps but also introduced innovative solutions for skilling in the sector. Many training academies, schools and universities throughout the country are attempting to provide some form of virtual learning with the help of virtual teachers and virtual platforms available. The government is formulating policies to foster digital skilling. There is a concerted effort to enhance the digital infrastructure to help facilitate the use of innovative educational tools. In the near future, digital skilling will no longer remain a novelty but an essential mode of imparting education. With digital transformation, parallel to the education sector, skilling system in PSI is bound to readjust itself by redefining how we learn and what we learn. Digital technology is also helping overcome language barriers – for learning material to be made available in multiple regional languages is a more feasible option when effected digitally. Innovative e-learning platforms have been gaining huge popularity. Students can attend classes and participate in discussion forums online, at their convenience, from their offices, homes and so on. Over the past few months, millions of students and teachers have adopted online education and skills. This includes the vocational education apparatus like technical training institutes focused on practical and shop-floor training, which have also transitioned to online delivery. TRADITIONAL MODE OF TRAINING IN PSI Traditionally, training in PSI domain has been predominantly run on ILT (instructor led training) pattern – face to face basic training conducted at PSA owned training centers as mandated by PSAR 2005. Post basic training – OJT and on site training – are conducted at client’s premises through ILT by trainer. Bulk of the time, this takes the shape of instructor mainly refreshing the skill sets acquired during the basic training with special emphasis on practical handling of security and safety equipment, access control, visitor management, material management, crowd control, handling of unruly customers, handling of emergencies, prevention of theft & pilferage, POSH and fire safety training. At most of the times this training is imparted outdoors at the space earmarked by the client. Client specific training is also conducted using same modus operandi. Most of the MNCs and organizations from IT & ITES domain have dedicated training rooms but balance of 99% employers premises are devoid of any dedicated indoor training rooms/ areas. Most of the times, the dedicated training rooms are occupied for conduct of ‘in house training programs’ as part of the corporate trainings which are being regularly run for the regular employees on their pay roll. These in house corporate training programs are not security related but generally have linkage to adoption of new technology, new processes, awareness drives about new business initiatives in specific domains and up gradation of skill sets required to be acquired by the employees to take it forward. Security personnel are always the last priority. The open space in the premises within the tight time window of availability of few minutes of change of deployment shifts of security personnel thrice in a 24 cycle. Duration of training is limited to 30 to 40 minutes and limited to the scope illustrated above. Indoor training is limited to PPT and training videos on standalone mode but no interface with client network because of cyber security protocol. Selected few have started using the mobile training vans to fill in the void of the dedicated training room at client premises. However, this has proved to be an effective tool of delivery of training but did not offset the requirement of the virtual training necessitated by Covid pandemic. IMPACT OF COVID PANDEMIC When Covid-19 struck in early 2020, everything changed dramatically. Forced into lockdown mode…