A Comprehensive Guide to ITI Welder Trade

The I.T.I.s, which stands for Industrial Training Institute, provides a wide array of vocational trade courses throughout the country, but today we are going to talk all about the ITI Welder trade & present to you all the necessary information that will act as a guide for you to take admissions and make a career as a professional welder.

So, you like playing with metal and fire?

Do you like the idea of joining metal sheets by the use of heat?

Does working with an iron mask entice you?

If your answer to all the above questions is a big old yes, then you have come to the right place. The person we are talking about above is called a welder and believe it or not, it is a very skillful job, & something that requires a lot of know-how plus practice.

After reading this blog, you will get to know about the following:

1. What is Welding
2. Who is it for
3. How can I get in?
4. Is it an in-demand skill?
5. Are all welders the same or there are different types?
6. Where can I pursue this course from
7. The history of ITIs
8. Bonus Content – Details about ITI Welder trade and its

• Overview & Module structure
• Syllabus, Important topics, attendance, Grading system
• Eligibility
• Fee
• Certifications
• Career prospects

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What is Welding?

Derived from the Middle English verb “well” which means “to heat” or “to bring to a boil”, welding is simply put, an art of uniting metals through heating/boiling them. Right from the bronze & iron ages, the welding of metals was an art that had many uses in different industries. From the Ashoka pillar in Delhi to the Maurzyce Bridge in Poland, welding has created many marvels throughout history. Over time, welding has evolved and there are various ways to weld different materials today.

Until the 19th century, the only way to weld things was by heating and hammering things into shape, which is also known as forging but as technology progressed & due to the requirement to make things fast for the world wars that ensued, arc welding, electric resistance welding, and oxy-fuel welding took center stage. Today, we have many ways of welding available at our disposal, and are used according to their respective merits in different industries.

Since welding requires being in close distance with the materials that you are trying to join using high-intensity heating, precautions should be observed to avoid vision damage, burns, electric shocks, and exposure to intense ultraviolet radiations.

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Who is it for?

Welding is for anyone who might be interested in the trade, given that they are wise enough to handle the equipment properly but in all honesty, it should be safe for a 14-15 years old person to weld, given he has access to proper gear & has been briefed about the use beforehand.

If we speak about the trades taught at ITIs; to be eligible to get into any of the government or private ITIs the minimum requirement are either 8th standard, 10th standard, or 12th standard pass from any recognized board but varies from one trade to another and sometimes, from one institute to another you are applying to so it is best to check with the respective ITIs beforehand.

To be a successful welder, apart from your theoretical knowledge, a person has to have finesse & great general physical wellbeing. You need to be healthy and fit as a lot of the time you will be lifting, holding, or shifting heavy objects and that requires stamina and strength. Some of the prerequisites to be a great welder are –

• Ability to read and understand basic mathematics and physics concepts
• Basic arithmetic skills
• Ability to interpret the parameters/documentation
• Ability to plan and organize work processes, identify necessary materials and tools
• God oral communication
• Calm demeanor

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How can I get in?

All the states have separate admission processes and timelines but generally speaking, the forms are out in May and are available to fill until July. The new sessions commence in August but this is just the general timeline and should be verified separately through contacting the individual institutes with the help of the list provided in the link above. Usually, there are no entrance tests for getting into the ITIs & a student could get into the institution by filling the respective trade forms and submitting important documents like their 10th or 8th, or 12th class mark sheets (whichever is required) with it but some states like Bihar have started conducting the Bihar ITICAT, which is an entrance test now so you might need to check while applying.

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Is it an in-demand skill?

While you read this, I encourage you to envision the metal objects such as benches, window grills, the metal gate at the entrance of your building or house. All these things if made from metal, needed welding to join the materials together. From general items like gym machines to highly complex space shuttles; things like these need a professional welder to join the parts together for them to have an ideal performance. So anyone with this skill at hand will always be in demand.

Since welding is a skill that is most used in heavy application industries like Oil & Gas, Electricity, Automobile, and Infrastructure construction, sectors in which the demand is always on the rise because of urbanization, welding will stay as an in-demand skill for years to come. If a candidate takes a few steps ahead and does a Diploma or a Bachelor’s degree in welding technology, he will be able to bolster his prospects of even getting a high-paying job at a private or government company like BHEL, BEML or if you get lucky ISRO as well. Just imagine how grand that would be!

Are all welders the same or there are different types?

Welding has been around for a very long time and has gone through a host of changes mainly because of the technological advancements science has seen over the years. At the start of the iron & bronze age, metallurgy had only one technique which was forging, where the blacksmiths used to apply heat to iron and steel and hammer them into shape. Now just like everything, the field has gone tremendous change over the years and new & sophisticated methods have been invented. Some of the majorly used welding techniques are –

• MIG Welding – GMAW
• TIG Welding – GTAW
• Stick Welding – Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)
• Flux Welding – Cored Arc Welding (FCAW)
• Energy Beam Welding (EBW)
• Atomic Hydrogen Welding (AHW)
• Gas Tungsten-Arc Welding
• Plasma Arc Welding

Even though the ITIs mainly teach you GMAW, SMAW, FCAW & GTAW. The respective details of the types mentioned above can be found here

Where can I pursue this course from?

The Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), was set up in the year 2014 by the government of India for the promotion and advancement of skill development of efforts across the country. Functions like Industrial training, apprenticeship, and other skill development responsibilities were transferred from the Ministry of Labour and Employment to the MSDE in 2015.

Under the MSDE, the Directorate General of Training (DGT) was made the apex organization for suggesting policy-related structural changes to the vocational training schools which includes all the Industrial Training Institutes (Govt. & Pvt.), National Skills Training Institutes (STIs)/ National Skills Training Institutes for Women (NSTI-W) and other central institutes.

Now under the DGT’s Craftsman Training Scheme (CTS), the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) were made accountable to provide vocational training in craftsman work done across various industries. So, the ITIs are the institutes that provide welding courses. The ITI Welder trade as it’s sometimes called is one of 140 Engineering + Non-Engineering courses that you can pursue from the ITIs. Just go to this DGT website page and scroll down or type welder in the search box which comes after pressing the command Ctrl + F3.

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The History of ITIs

After the independence of our country in 1947, there was a massive need for people to work at factories, mills, and heavy industries like steel, electricity, railways, etc. to aid the economic development of the country & since India had not implemented the LPG (Liberalisation, Privatisation & Globalisation) policies back then, there was a massive need for trained personnel from the country to work in infrastructure projects.

Since the education level in the country was low due to the lack of opportunities given to Indians under British rule, the country did not have many skilled technicians right away at its disposal to be readily employable.

So in the year 1950, the government came up with the plan to set up some institutes across the country to train people in the necessary skills in the then most growing sector of the country, i.e. the industrial sector. The idea behind setting up the ITIs was to provide technical know-how to young students or adults who did not have higher education & wanted to enter the workforce.

These young ones were to be trained in basic practical skills required to do jobs in the industry like that of a fitter or lathe operator. The courses in the ITI’s are designed such that they can impart basic skills in the trade specified. As time passed and India opened its economy to foreign companies in 1992 there was a need to further provide vocations in non-engineering fields due to the boom in industries like IT, Hospitality, Food & Handicrafts.

Out of the total 140 courses that ITIs provide in the country, the number of non-engineering trades has been rapidly increased to around 55-60 in number and include trades like Computer hardware & network maintenance, footwear making leather goods making, baking & confectionery.

Though the ITIs are not the most sought after institutes that students pursue while planning their careers[1]  but if you are someone who has recognized their passion early in life, it is a great choice to get an early start on which you can build upon to move up the ladder quickly.

The main advantage of joining the ITIs is that the trades that the courses so curated by them are designed after conducting rigorous research and taking feedback from the industry leaders about the skills that are in need and will see huge demands in the future.

From a trainee’s perspective, they are very engrossing which is good as they help provide in-depth knowledge. Apart from that, the main focus of the curriculum is on practicals and not just making trainees mug facts in the theory classes.

Bonus Content – Details about ITI Welder trade

Since you have come this far, I will assume that you want to learn the ITI welder trade. That’s Great!

Up until now, we have covered general stuff about welding as a trade, welding types, and whether or not there is a demand for this skill. We then went over some history and background of the ITIs and the ministries and bodies that take care of the vocational training system in the country to give you an idea about the hierarchy & background.

In this section, we will be talking about all the details of the ITI Welder trade, right from the duration to the prospects after doing the course. Just as a single doctor cannot perform all kinds of surgeries, a single welder cannot do all kinds of welding & we need one specialist for one trade. So, If you go to the CST courses page on the DGT website, you will find six trades that are provided by the ITIs related to the field of welding. They are –

1. Welder – NSQF Level 4
2. Welder (Fabrication & Fitting) – NSQF Level 3
3. Welder(GMAW & GTAW) – NSQF Level 3
4. Welder (Pipe)- NSQF Level 3
5. Welder (Structural) – NSQF Level 3
6. Welder (Welding & Inspection) – NSQF Level 3

These levels are defined in terms of learning outcomes which the learner must possess despite them being acquired through formal, non-formal, or informal learning. So the higher the NSQF Level of the course, the more intensive and engaging it is and the higher up the ladder you can get entry into after the completion of the ITI welder trade. So for its sake, we will be focusing on the ITI welder trade with NSQF Level 4 as it gives you more exposure & in-depth knowledge about welding in general.

With that being said, that does not mean that you can’t choose other welding specializations if you have a deep interest in them. Always remember that there is no substitute for hard work, and you can always move up the ladder if you display the expertise required for the job.

Module Structure

The ITI welder Trade being a One-Year trade has been carefully divided into five different modules namely Professional Knowledge (Trade Theory), Professional Skill (Trade Practical), Workshop Calculation & Science, Engineering Drawing & Employability Skills. The focus seems to be more on trade practical as it is awarded the most hours followed by theory.

The employability skills module, which in my opinion is a good addition to the course aims at improving various soft skills like English communication, Grammar & Basic Computer knowledge will help to mold future professionals in their personality development.

The ITI welder trade is in total, a 1600 hour module spread across this One-Year with the respective time breakup of each sub-modules as follows –

The trainees will be tested for their skills, knowledge, and attitude during the period of the course through formative assessment and at the end of the training program through summative assessment as notified by the DGT. The formative assessments done during the module will be continuous and will be measured against the learning objectives of every module. Apart from that, the training institutes will be required to maintain a trainee portfolio which will be checked by the invigilators before giving marks for the practical examination.

The students will be required to submit a group assignment at a time notified during the module that will be assessed alongside the formative and summative tests. The minimum passing percentage for Trade Practical and Formative assessment stands at 60% and for other subjects, it is 33%. There are no grace marks.

At the end of the course, the students will be required to give the All India Trade Test (for obtaining a National Training Certificate) which will be conducted by the controller of examinations, DGT as per the guidelines intimated before the end of the course. If they get through, they will be awarded the NCVT trade certificate through the NCVT MIS portal.

The students will be required to submit a group assignment at a time notified during the module that will be assessed alongside the formative and summative tests. There are no grace marks.

At the end of the course, the students will be required to give the All India Trade Test (for obtaining a National Training Certificate) which will be conducted by the controller of examinations, DGT as per the guidelines intimated before the end of the course. If they get through, they will be awarded the NCVT trade certificate through the NCVT MIS portal.

Grading System 

As per the module document given above, the grading process for the ITI welder trade follows a comprehensive and rigorous marking scheme with continuous formative assessments conducted during/after every trade practical. The trainers will be asked to maintain a trainee portfolio which will be referred back to during the final grading at the end of the course. The grading itself will not follow the alphabetical brackets but will have a percentage grading to determine the final scores.

A candidate needs to score a minimum of 60% for Trade Practical and Formative assessment & for all other subjects, a minimum of 33% to be judged as a pass. I also had a look at the sample question papers and judging by that, the questions in the final assessment papers will be multiple choice to which there will be only one correct answer.

Eligibility

Since the ITIs aims at providing technical education to a vast population, the minimum requirements to be eligible for the ITI welder trade have been kept as 8th standard pass or 14 years of age at the time of taking admission to the institutes.

Although the admissions are done on a merit basis (marks in 8th standard passing mark sheet) in most of the states; all states have total autonomy in deciding the admission criteria for the trades and hence some states like Bihar have started to conduct the entrance tests for ITI welder trade so you need to individually check with the ITIs for the admission criteria.

Fee 

The fee for the ITI welder trade varies from the type of ITIs you are getting into. If you are getting into a government ITI, the fee for the course varies from Rs.3000-5000/- per semester while if you take admission in private ITI, you can expect the same to be around Rs.10000-25000/- per semester.

Certifications

There are two kinds of certifications available for the students of the ITI welder trade.

• NCVT – National Council of Vocational Training certificate
• SCVT – State Council of Vocational Training certificate

Out of the above two, I would recommend the NCVT certification, as it is nationally recognized and passing the NCVT exam means that you have a deep understanding of the topics taught in the trade. At the same time, it makes your path easy for an apprenticeship at national corporations like BHEL, SAIL, BPCL & ONGC.

After you have cleared the certification exam, you have an option to apply for an apprenticeship. Many people are of the view that after doing the course you become equipped with all the knowledge you might need to apply for a job so you should not apply for an apprenticeship, but it is recommended to do an apprenticeship with some company as you will learn managing work schedules, deadlines, on the job communication, teamwork, taking responsibility, delegation; life skill that will help you face situations when you get a job.

Career Prospects 

After the completion of the course or the apprenticeship, many paths open up for you to pursue a career as a welder. The ITI welder trade has a track record of equipping trainees with the necessary skills that make them suitable for jobs, even overseas in many Gulf countries, European Countries & countries like Australia, Singapore & New Zealand. Some of the career pathways that open up for trainees after this course are –

• Technician where they can progress further as Senior Technician, Supervisor and can rise to the level of Manager.
• Can become an Entrepreneur in the related field.
• Can join the Apprenticeship program in different types of industries leading to a National Apprenticeship certificate (NAC).
• Can join Crafts Instructor Training Scheme (CITS) after the completion of the trade to become a lecturer in ITIs.
• Can join the workforce straightaway with companies that employ technicians on a bulk basis. For example – Government electricity boards, Municipal Corporations, Hydropower plants

If you want to start a job and start earning right after the course gets complete, you can either open your own business or join one of the companies mentioned above and expect to get a salary of Rs. 5000-10000 p.m.

Conclusion 

Whenever we move ahead in life and decide on a pathway, it opens up new possibilities for us. Just like the ITI welder trade, it is sure to open up many avenues of personal & professional growth but always move forward keeping the goal in mind – Being better than you were yesterday and you’ll find success. Sometimes it will not seem like a grand opening, leading to some greater calling but we should keep our minds focused and eyes on the bigger picture.

Many great inventors did not make any significant contribution to their fields until very late in life. Colonel Sanders for example – the founder of KFC Fried Chicken began his company at the age of 65. Yes, 65, he might not have age on his side but one thing he had was a firm belief in his idea and abilities. So where you are right now in life does not define where you want to go if you are willing to put in the work required. All that matters is your effort & I wish you all the best for that.