What are skills?
Skills are abilities or capacities to do work. They can be of three types i.e. Core skills, those that help people get employment and earn a livelihood, e.g. communication, literacy (e.g. arithmetic). The other is Employability skills, which are needed during work, such as team working, analysis etc. The third is Vocational skills, which are practical skills that one learns for interest. They could be cooking, nursing etc.
Skills can be hard or soft. Hard skills are quantifiable and measurable e.g. sales whereas soft skills are related to personality and behaviour.
What is the current skill situation in India?
India faces an urgent crisis of skill development. India has a total population of 1.34 billion people. Nearly 12.8 million people enter the workforce every year. Currently the training capacity in the country is for 4.3 million people, i.e. 36% of new entrants. This leaves 64% of the people without skill training. Different segments of society need training such as school students, graduates, postgraduates etc.. There will be different sectors of growth in the future such as automobile, construction, other non-IT sectors.
India has a demographic advantage i.e. majority of the population is young. By 2020, nearly 62% of the people will be in the age group of 15-59 years. Average age in India will be 29 years. This means that majority of the population would be in working age group. India will have a demographic advantage that can be used for economic growth.
What is the need for Skill Development?
It is important to have skill development in the country because it will help in mobility of jobs, establishing equality in society, social mobility and economic development. A skilled workforce would help businesses grow and explore new avenues. It will help the country develop into a knowledge economy, giving it a competitive edge. Foreign companies will be attracted to Indian talent and invest in the country (Foreign Direct Investments). A skilled workforce would be creative, would possess analytical capabilities, would be highly efficient, help in getting through work problems easily, maintain quality standards and be innovative.
With technological advancements, a capable workforce would be required to manage the technology. The world is going to face a shortfall of 47 million workers. Many countries, such as Japan, are going to lose a lot of workforce due to ageing population. But India will have a surplus of 56 million. Hence, India can be in a position to give this talent to rest of the world.
What are the initiatives taken by Government of India for Skill Development?
The Indian government has taken a number of initiatives for skill development. The country does not have skilling capacities. People from different sectors (such as Agriculture, Services, manufacturing, construction sectors etc.) and different sections (such as school students, graduates, post graduates etc. ) need to get trained. PM of India, Mr. Narendra Modi started the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in 2014 to promote skill development. This initiative aimed at making ministries work together collaboratively to provide quality standards in teaching and curriculum. MSDE is at the centre of all skill development activities. The aim of this Ministry is to coordinate all skill development efforts in the country. It will develop a frame work for skill development and vocational training. The focus is on up gradation of existing skills and development of new skills and also on promoting innovative thinking in the country. There are few Nodal ministries also focused on skill development such as Ministry of Human Resource Development (MoHRD) (focuses on higher education and vocational training) and Ministry of Labour and Employment (focuses on developing vocational training infrastructure such as Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs)).
Based on the need to have a skill development roadmap, various initiatives have been taken. These include National Skill Development Initiative which will develop knowledge, qualifications, competitiveness and skills of the population as per international standards. National Skill Development Council is to establish policies for skill development activities, coordinate the activities and review the initiatives being taken. The goal is to skill 500 million people by 2022. The council focuses on the policy objectives, developing strategies to carry out these objectives, governance and financing of the actions being taken.
National Skill Development Board is to coordinate skill development activities, formulate guidelines to carry out the initiatives highlighted by the Skill Development Council, develop strategies and solutions to carry out the plan; check, assess and evaluate the outcomes of the plans. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is a non-profit organisation. It is a Public Private Partnership (PPP). It’s objective is to take forward skill development activities. Focus is on upgrading existing skills to international standards and encouraging the private sector to establish PPP. NSDC is responsible for creating vocational training institutes, get funds to support skill development initiatives and enable other support systems. National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) is an autonomous body aimed at coordinating skill development initiatives and meeting skilling targets. It coordinates and harmonises the role of central ministries and departments, state governments, NSDC and the private sector. It will ensure quality and standard of skill development, raise budget for the initiatives by collaborating with organisations including international organisations. The NSDA is establishing a national database for skill development.
National Skill Development Fund is responsible for collecting funds from government, non-government bodies and others such as donors. It aims to enhance and stimulate the skill development landscape in the country. Sector Skill Councils (SSC) are autonomous bodies that conduct skill gap studies; develop a competency framework and develop occupational & qualification bodies. They train the teachers as per the requirements of the curriculum and assess and certify them. There are currently 37 operational SSCs. Some industries they cover are automobile, retail, IT, media & entertainment, health care, gems & jewellery, leather etc.. National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (2015) is focused on Human Resource Development. It will take advantage of the demographic profile of the country, develop a framework for skill development to expedite efforts and attain quality. They aim to increase employability and productivity skills. National Skill Qualification Framework is established to judge the requirement of skills at different levels in the industries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken up the Skill India Initiative. Various schemes have been started under that initiative such as PMKVY (Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana) is a scheme for young people to get skills based on industry demands, get employed and earn higher income. DDU-GKY (Deen Dayal Upadhaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana) scheme, in collaboration with various stakeholders, is for rural youth to get skilled and get placements. SANKALP (Skills Acquisition & Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion) is a program started to implement the mandate of NSDM. It has various sub-missions such as strengthening institutional mechanisms at national and state levels, developing quality trainers and assessing them, converging the skill training activities at state level, developing a robust monitoring and evaluation system. This program is being funded by the World Bank. UDAAN is a scheme started for the youth of Jammu&Kashmir. They are provided skill training to increase their employability. The government of India has established a policy framework for skill development that includes apprenticeship training. Various states have their own ministry to carry out activities of skill development. Government is also focusing on Public Private Partnerships to scale up the programmes. ITI’s (Industrial Training Institutes), ITC’s (Industrial Training Centres) and polytechnics have been established to carry out trainings.
What are the challenges coming in the way of having a skilled workforce?
The challenges that are coming in the way of establishing a skilled workforce are plentiful. There is lack of proper infrastructure i.e. locations to provide trainings. The programs of skill development cannot be located in a particular region. They need to be scaled up to include maximum people. Different sections of society and gender have to be included. There is also a shortage of qualified trainers. A proper curriculum has not been set in consultation with industry leaders that details out the skills needed by the industry. Students, after they have passed out from these trainings, don’t get career counselling to guide them towards career opportunities. Inadequate funding, there is lack of adequate funding to carry out the programs. They are not advertised properly, hence do not reach maximum audience. Poor wages, people are not given appropriate wages after the skill programs, which discourages others from joining them. There needs to be a demarcation in wages of skilled and unskilled workers which will encourage unskilled workers to take up skilling programs.
Poor implementation, though India has a lot of policy initiatives, it does not seem to have strong implementation as seen in China, which too is an emerging economy. China is very strongly focused on skill development. It has two ministries looking into this. Ministry of Education (MOE) focuses on school education and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security focuses on vocational training. It is compulsory to have vocational training in China. The mix of school education and vocational training makes graduates job ready.
Germany also follows a dual system of vocational and educational training called Technical & Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Students attend 1-2 days per week of classroom training and 3-4 days per week of vocational training or apprenticeship programmes. Students graduating from such programmes are highly employable because of their strong grounding in employability skills. The school curriculum in Germany is made in coherence with industry demands. A lot of students are hired by the companies they do apprenticeship in.
Lack of jobs: According to an article in Financial Express, the problem with skill development initiatives is that, after 4 years of Modi government, nearly 30% of skilled persons have jobs i.e. 3/10 skilled people. There has been a big boost to skill development efforts, but finding jobs is still difficult. Job creation is a problem in the country. Unemployment has doubled between the years 2017-2018. It was 3.39% in 2017 and 6.23% in 2018.
Fraudulent Practices, there have also been reports by India Today that Skill India initiatives have been conned by middlemen. These people use the aadhar cards of candidates to show that many people have registered for training, but no training is given to these people.
Conclusion:
Skilled workforce can take India to huge economic & social development. It can help other nations fill up workforce gaps. But to reap the benefits of having a demographic advantage, India will have to become a skilled nation. The government does possess a roadmap to achieve skill development. It has created ministries, missions, various other bodies to carry out the objectives. But the pace is still slow and the reach not wide enough. The problems of poor funding, lack of infrastructure, inadequately qualified teachers, shortage of jobs, presence of fraudulent practices etc. would have to be plugged in before the country’s demography could become an asset. However, now that the steps are being taken, and problems are being highlighted, there is hope that these problems would be addressed and India would be on fast track towards growth.
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For reference to articles mentioned in the blog, please see the links:-
1) Financial Express https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/4-years-of-modi-as-jobs-assume-focus-is-skill-india-a-success-heres-what-this-rti-reveals/1180719/
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