Raj Nehru
When the world will be shrinking in terms of its working age population , India will be shining at the same time. As per estimates by 2020 there will be a shortage of more than 45 million people around the world however India would have an advantage of having a surplus working people of more than 50 million during the same period. But all this shine can wither away if it is not polished well. I mean this advantage would be really lost if we don’t equip this growing workforce with relevant skill sets that has economic value. While the good news is that the Government has put a high focus on Skilling and has aggressively targeted to train more than 500 million people by 2022. the biggest challenge to achieve these numbers will be posed by the available capacity to train . As per estimates the current annual training capacity is approximately 5-6 million. Perhaps the Skill Ministry has been constituted with a purpose to focus on the key issues, there are still some challenges that need to be understood and addressed in order to make Skill Development initiative a scalable and a sustainable model in India. In this part of the article i will highlight some key challenges before we get on to the opportunities and recommendations.
“One of the biggest Skilling challenges today in our country is emerging from its Social Mindset. The Society and its people including institutions do not treat Skilling with respect. The need for Skilling is felt only as a last resort that too for the ones who are seen at the bottom of the pyramid. Consequently the dignity for the labor is low and hence people don’t embrace skilling development with Pride. In contrast to some advanced countries where, Vocational Skill professionals are treated at par with our technical education qualifications, India is yet too far behind.
“Those who have been skilled have not been able to tread some significant opportunities of employment and career pathways. Vocational education continues to be perceived as an option for blue collared job aspirants, that attracts low wages and low growth.
“Formal Education system is valued more than anything else and is seen with respect. Diploma’s & Degrees are held in great pride. The vocational education model has neither been established nor has been granted equivalence in real terms with formal education. There is a need to have a greater co-ordination of School education, Technical Education, Higher Education with Skill Education in order to make things really work.
“Children or youths whose aptitude is in application based learning instead of class room learning find very less or no formal opportunities to pursue. There is a narrowing pyramid of skill pathway as one tries to move up on the skill roadmap.
“Even in certain cases where Skill Development programs are available, they lack progression. Children are forced to pursue skilling either as a hobby or as an optional subjects. There are no implementable skilling pathways available from school system to higher education.
“Not only is the absence of Vertical Mobility, there is also no defined horizontal path ways for Skilling aspirants and hence significantly impacts its attractiveness and appeal. The choice based credit system ( cbcs) options are not available for a student to decide options based on his or her likings, aptitude and interest.“Even the confidence of industry on the skilled resources is low as they continue to find a big skill gap amongst the certified resources, resulting into their poor interest for the Government led skill initiatives. They trust their internal skill initiatives more than external ones. In fact some surveys have shown that more than 85% of students passing out from various technical institutes are not employable,“In certain situations where Industry has shown interest to partner with Government or its institutions through PPP models, most organizations have shared their dissatisfaction for the various systemic and bureaucratic hurdles.“The fear of stringent compliance further discourages the industry to engage apprentices and a less effective governance from the Government side reduces further the effectiveness for any ongoing skilling program. “Another important challenge is poor branding, communication and awareness of our youths about various skilling schemes and connected job opportunities. The last mile connectivity and flow of relevant information is poor. The mobilization strategies are neither well defined nor are they effective. “The quality of training, its infrastructure, pedagogy, evaluation and assessment system makes the entire process further ineffective. There is reportedly less linkage to workplace requirements as well. This also reduces the social and economic value of the qualifications provided.
“The another biggest challenge of an effective Skill ecosystem comes from its deficient pool of highly skilled trainers in both rural and urban areas. In the rural belts where the potential targeted population numbers are large, the poor infrastructure and trainer availability is a big challenge. “There are no formal Skill Schools and Universities that market the skill development program as a wholesome alternate opportunity of education and career development. Skill is hence not seen as an alternate to education path way and therefore severely impacts its attractiveness amongst the youngsters. However in recent past Haryana became the first state in the country to announce the Skill University and some other states have also started following.
(The author is the Vice Chancellor of Haryana Vishwakarma Skill University.)
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