KANNUR: Switzerland is the first country with which India signed a Treaty of Friendship, way back in 1947. The Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF), started at Nettur in Thalassery with Swiss co-operation in 1959 to provide purposeful quality education with excellent employment opportunities, is one of the existing and successful examples of this friendship.
The NTTF is also one of the rare exemplars where an institution became the "brand ambassador" of a village across the globe. The alumni of this institution even started a tooling company in the USA with the name Nettur. With nearly 10,000 students studying across 30 centres in India, the NTTF is one of the pioneer institutions in technical education.
The Institution was started by Hilfswerk der Evangelischen Kirchen Schweiz (HEKS), a Swiss NGO, in association with Church of South India (CSI) to meet the requirements of Swiss industries which faced a dearth of technical experts. The Institution also got generous assistance from Swiss Development Co-operation and Swiss Confederation government.
Alfred Frischknecht, a Swiss expert, was the founder principal of the NTTF. German scholar and linguist Hermann Gundert's residence Illikkunnu Bungalow is also part of the campus. Over the years, the Institution produced many technical experts in many fields including Asia’s first lady toolmaker Rajalakshmi.
“Even during the early years, the NTTF was considered as the most sought after institution by major companies and when they call for vacancies, they used to specify for those who have passed out from NTTF,” remembered E.K. Latheef, a senior faculty member. Mr Latheef had won a national award at All India Skill Test when he was a student here in 1970.
The workshops of NTTF are equipped with most modern machinery and the Institution is also having tie-ups with foreign institutions and companies. “We associate with various government and private firms in different fields where they require our expertise. Many thousands attend the entrance exam for the NTTF each year and this proves the importance of our institution,” principal of Thalassery centre R. Ayyappan said.
