Let us not be euphoric for everything we do and achieve as a nation. Quite often we should introspect, revisit our approaches and audit the outcome in a ruthless manner. An objective assessment makes things much easier for us. Skill development is an area where action, consistency and regularity matter more than anything else.
Harnessing the demographic advantage is not a game but a matter of serious planning. It requires capacity building, creating infrastructure and manpower to impart skills to our youths which make them employable domestically and globally. We need to know that degrees of skill courses won’t work. It is skills which will make things different for certificate holders and the industry as well.
We are at the crossroads today. The world has moved up a lot but we are still planning and discussing to make things take off in right earnest. In the last few years, some good measures have been taken but their implementation and outcome audit are not in sync with the needs of the time. In 2018, we felt the need to increase the proportion of formally skilled labour from 5.4 percent of India’s workforce to at least 15 percent by 2022-23. Unfortunately, we are nowhere near the goal. Instead of questioning the efforts I will point to the glaring gaps in our strategies to accomplish the cherished goals. At the cost of repetition, I will say that mere hype won’t take us anywhere.
I strongly recommend and feel the need for a synergy among all stakeholders to create an efficient, skilled workforce. It does not matter how many of our boys carry how many degrees. By ensuring inclusivity and reducing divisions based on gender, location, organised or unorganised, we need to work with a wholesome approach. Our skill development infrastructure should be brought on par with global standards by developing internationally compliant National Occupation Standards (NOS) and the Qualification Packs (QP) that define a job role.
We also need to make all training compliant with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) in the real sense of the term, and not just for the sake of paper compliance. We are very poor in anticipating future skill needs to adapt skill development courses. In other words, we do not have the vision to be future ready. It is perhaps because of our collective failure in being ready for the present. It is gladdening indeed that skill development has been made an integral part of the school curriculum by the new National Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020) but that is not enough.
According to the National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, more than 54 percent of India’s population is below 25 years of age and 62 percent of the country’s population is aged between 15 and 59 years. This demographic dividend is expected to last for the next 25 years. Don’t we need a five-year plan for the next five years to skill, reskill and upskill them? Yes, we need. A combination of short, medium and long term well-oiled strategy is the need of the hour, but we are not working so passionately in this regard.
Why should we be aggressive about skill development programmes? There are multiple reasons. According to NITIA Aayog, with most of the developed world experiencing an aging population, India has the opportunity to supply skilled labour globally and become the world’s skill capital. However, the demographic advantage might turn into a demographic disaster if the skills sets of both new entrants and the existing workforce do not match industry requirements. Recognizing the challenge, the Government of India has launched many initiatives to equip fresh entrants with relevant skills and to upgrade the skills of the existing workforce.
Are these initiatives working to their potential and our expectations? If yes, do we have the outcome report? If so, are these reports in sync with the ground realities? Perhaps not! A dedicated Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) was set up in 2014 to implement the National Skill Development Mission, which envisions skilling at scale with speed and standards. On July 15, 2015, on the first ever World Youth Skills Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Skill India Scheme.
As per the National Policy of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015, we have the target to impart various types of skills to 40 crore people by the end of 2022. So far, around 4 crore people have been trained in different skills. Skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling apart, the shortage of manpower with employable skills remains a serious challenge even now. It is also a huge opportunity for all stakeholders to come forward and arm our men and women workforce with employable skills. It is nothing but aligning the entire skilling ecosystem with the demands of employers.
A mismatch between the needs of employers and the skills of job seekers proves a critical hindrance in carrying out manufacturing pursuits in particular and any other industrial activities in general. There is a huge gap today between the demand for a skilled workforce and their availability in the market. The entire unorganized sector is dependent on semi-skilled or unskilled workers. A minuscule percentage of them are fully skilled and they are always in demand and are well paid as well. Over 150 million young people in developing countries are skilled but unemployed.
As per the assessment of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy reported in December last year, youth unemployment rates are two to four times higher than adults. Around 33 per cent of trained youth are unemployed as their employability quotient is very poor.
To improve the relevance and quality of courses offered by industrial training institutes (ITIs), polytechnics and private training providers, sector skill councils (SSCs) have been involved in curriculum up-gradation, preparation, and in the assessment and certification process. How effectively all this is being monitored needs to be documented for references and filling up the blanks exercise! Courses are being aligned to the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF). The idea of having a skilled workforce won’t yield desired results if all stakeholders don’t come together under one platform and in the right earnest.
The writer is co-founder & MD, Orane International, training partner with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Network Member, India International Skills Centres, an initiative of GoI. The views are personal.
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