Despite 77 percent literacy rate in India-the gap between skills required by industry and actual talent pool is huge with the result exponential increase in unemployment. In India only engineering and medical are two preferred streams by parents as well as careers adopted by students and rest are inconsequential as far as in the eyes of general society. Even mushrooming of so much engineering colleges with mismatch between what is being taught and what is required by industry results in high numbers of unemployed engineers. It is a fact that no Indian University or institution is among top 100 of world list. Fact is also that after 1986 National Policy of Education and its subsequent modification in 1992 nothing has changed for decades in education sector with the result totally outdated education system based on learning instead of skill development. We are simply not able to tap individual natural talents of children at young age, our focus is on cramming to get pass marks and then focus on Government jobs which is next to impossible for any Government at any stage. Practically even PhD educated persons are applying for the post of Laboratory Assistant and this itself reflects the job scenario and education standards. Present GoI understood the root cause and tried to impart skill development through additional trainings via Third Party Trainers but still the gap is huge. After much consideration, keeping in view all of this National Education Policy (NEP 2020) has been introduced and as early as sixth standard vocational courses will be introduced to segregate the students for different streams as per their interests and capabilities and next step is to establish a National Committee for the Integration of Vocational Education (NCIVE). World is fast changing, set of skills in demand today become absolute in a decade and new streams get introduced. Coordination between educational institutions and industry is nil with the result highly qualified academically but still unemployable in reality. Theoretical knowledge and practical reality are wide apart, factually north pole and south pole. More than 50% of businesses in India are unable to hire suitable candidates due to lack of future skills and this gap is not only in IT but across all industrial skills like manufacturing, hospitality, communication etc. Mentoring sort of platform is now to be implemented with vocational skill development trainings and then mandatory industrial trainings to bridge the gap between theory and practical. With one shot students will fulfill their professional goals and solutions to future growth will also be fulfilled.
Post abrogation of Article 370 GoI and LG Administration have focused to introduce schemes/policies simultaneously in Jammu and Kashmir as well, with the result J&K is also now step by step reducing the gap of development and skills with rest of India. Keeping view of this under NEP 2020 policy, 50 colleges have been marked to introduce multiple skill development programs at undergraduate level itself , in colleges of Jammu and Kashmir. With this now the immediate focus has to be on requisite infra development and skilled faculty recruitment instead of time gap arrangements. Half hearted or incomplete efforts can never succeed and Education Department must plan accordingly to implement vision of holistic development of students. Creativity with multidisciplinary curriculum of humanities, sports, languages, culture, art, fitness along with leadership skills will be the focus area to look beyond engineering and medical careers. New set of skills like environment, recycling, water conservation, new scientific farming skills, climate changes and what not are trending. Factually, it’s never ending continuous process of learning, rescaling, modifying and upgrading. Time to time review of impact of new education policies and immediate course correction if required is the need of hour. Accredited skill development courses will definitely be game changer on employment front, Jammu and Kashmir has taken first toddler step but definitely professional running on this new turf is not far away, success will be ultimately ours.
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