Skill development and VET have never been aspirational for our country. To achieve the PM’s vision, the fundamental requirement is creating an ecosystem which assigns dignity to vocational education and skill. We need to certify and recognise existing skilled citizens and give them the respect they deserve to make them role models. The National Skills Policy, 2015 proposes to link skill development in at least one school out of four in next five years from class nine onwards, providing seamless integration of vocational training in formal education.
Active involvement of industry in skill development and higher education
In several developed and developing countries like Germany, Korea, Brazil, industry is a proactive partner in skill development. Although the Sector Skill Councils are set up to develop national standards in collaboration with the industry, training is not driven by the employers. While the large conglomerates have their own training institutions, MSME clusters should be provided fiscal incentives and soft loans to set up Training Centres that would cater to collective training requirements of establishments in the cluster. This would also bring down the cost of training and re-training for each company.
Setting up of specialized standard setting institutions
The Government should allow the creation of a comprehensive accreditation mechanism that should include qualitative parameters such as periodic curriculum review by the institution, student teacher ratio, use of ICT, pedagogical innovations, employment, leadership vision, faculty development, evaluation & assessment systems, institute- industry interface, etc. Credible independent professional accreditation bodies for schools/ technical education institutions and higher education should be set up. To expedite the process, existing rating agencies like ICRA, CRISIL, professional associations and industry associations should be brought into the fold. A Third Party Rating mechanism independent of government intervention should be created and the institutions should be encouraged to participate in such ratings.
India as a skill supplier to the world
India’s population is projected to reach 1.45 billion by the year 2026. Virtually all of this demographic growth will take place in the working age range (15-59 years). As a result of this, the workforce is expected to double. India already has the largest youth population in the world with around 66% of the total population under the age of 35.
At this unique juncture, India has reached a point that will come but once in its growth trajectory where her population is not just young, but also at that stage of development that spurs higher rates of internal and international migration. This, however, presents both opportunities and challenges. The first of which is skill development for overseas employment. Only 5.5 million jobs are being created in India currently while 18 million youth will be entering the job market annually for the next 10 years. It is clear that in this economy with limited job creation rate, we need to identify global pockets of opportunities.
T V Mohandas Pai Chairman, FICCI Skill Development Committee and Chairman, Manipal Global Education Services writes this piece for FICCI publication “Economy of Jobs”.
