Neeraj Dubey
Skill India – A New programme to be launched in March 2015, Skill India main goal is to create opportunities, space and scope for the development of the talent of the Indian youth and to develop more of those sectors which have already been put under skill development. National Policy on Skill Development, aims to train 500 million people by 2022 by empowering all individuals through improved skills, knowledge and nationally and internationally recognised qualifications to gain access to decent employment and ensure India’s competitiveness in global market. It also aims to increase produce workforce in organised and unorganised sectors especially among youth, women, disables, disadvantage sections. Out of this 500 million, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) will train 150 million; Ministry of Labour will train 100 million, MHRD – 50 million and the rest 230 million shall be trained by 21 ministries, departments and various other organisations. The Government of India having conceptualized the need of Skill Development by coordinatingaction on Skill Development with a Three – Tier institutional structure consisting of (1) P.M.’s National Council (2) National Skill Development Coordination Board (NSDCB) and (3) National Skill Development Corporation. The Planning Commission of India has estimated that around 500 million skilled persons are required by 2022, while the current capacity of the skill development program is 3.1 million. Considering issues like population growth, unplanned rural urban migration causing urban poverty, high school dropout rates, India is likely to witness a deficit of 5.25 million employable graduates and vocationally trained workforce in next few years. In a few states, it has been observed that the economic progress of the state is directly related to the development of Technical and Vocational Education System. Those states, where good progress has been made in the field of skill development, have attracted higher private investments as well.
Challenges before National Skill Development Programme
Disseminating information about the availability and effectiveness of training programs, Improper and inadequate development of vocational training system,Lack of coordination between vocational training institutions and absence of partnership between these.There is a need to identify institutions to carry out impact evaluation studies / tracer studies/ Surveys of graduates from vocational institutes on a regular basis. In India, skill acquisition takes place through two basic structural streams-a small formal one and a large informal one. The formal structure includes: (i) Higher Technical Education imparted through Professional Colleges,(ii) Vocational Education in schools at the post-secondary stage, (iii) Technical training in specialized institutions, and (iv) Apprenticeshiptraining. A number of agencies impart vocational education/training at various levels. Higher Professional and Technical education, primarily in the areas of agriculture, education, engineering and technology, and medicine, is imparted through various professional institutions There are seventeen ministries and departments of GoI(Govt. of India) which are imparting vocational training to about 3.1 million persons every year. The attempt to meet training needs through multiple authorities- labour, handlooms, handicrafts, small industry, education, health, women and child development, social welfare, tourism, etc. leads to redundancy at some locations. While each of the training initiatives has a definite area of specialization, there is need for coordination amongst these ministries/ departments. Many efforts for imparting training through SwarnJayantiGramswaRojgarYojana(SGSY), PMRY, KVIC, KrishiVigyan Kendra (KVK) and Jan ShikshaSansthan (JSS) are in place but the outcome is not encouraging.Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development for any country. Countries with higher and better levels of skills adjust more effectively to the challenges and opportunities of world of work. As India moves progressively towards becoming a ‘knowledge economy’ it becomes increasingly important that the country should focus on advancement of skills and these skills have to be relevant to the emerging economic environment.
Current structure and supply of Education and Skill Development System in India:
Education, including all aspects higher education and college education falls under the Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD). The University and Higher Education Deptt. is responsible for all college education (Arts, Science, Commerce, etc.), while engineering education, polytechnics, etc., fall under the category of Technical Education. The University Grants Commission (UGC) provides funds in the form of grants and also coordinates as well as sets standards for teaching, examination and research in universities. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the regulatory body for Technical Education in India. Its objectives are: promotion of quality in technical education, planning and coordinated development of technical education system, regulation and maintenance of norms and standards. A large part of the current vocational training infrastructure, the Government ITIs and Private ITCs, falls under the Ministry of Labour and Employment’s, Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGET). The National Council on Vocation Training (NCVT) plays a key role in the formation of training curriculum, policies, standards, as well as in certification by means of the ‘trade test’. The Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development has been formulated to coordinate action on skill development. The National Skill Development Policy is aimed at empowering all individuals through improved skills, knowledge and internationally recognised qualifications to enable them to access decent employment, to promote inclusive national growth and to ensure India’s competitiveness in the global market. Mission national development initiative will empower all individual through improved skill, knowledge nationally recognized qualifications to gain access to decent employment and ensure India’s competitiveness in global market.
Feature of skill India Programme :
The emphasis is to skill the youth in such away that they get employment and also improve entrepreneurship, provide training support and guidance for all occupation that were of traditional type like carpenters, cobblers, welders, blacksmith, masons, nurses, tailors, wavers, etc. More emphasis will be given on new area like real estate construction, textiles, transportation, gem industries, jewellery industries, banking tourisms and various other sectors where skill development is inadequate or nil. The training programmes would be on the lines of international level so that the youths of our country cannot only meet the domestic demands but also of other countries like us, Japan, China, Germany and those in the west Asia.Another remarkable feature of the skill India programme would be to create a hallmark called Rural India skill so as to standardise and certify the training process. The author likes to conclude this article by saying that, “Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of the economic growth and social development of any country, they have become even more important given the increasing space of globalisation and technological changes, that are taking place in the world.
(The author is Sr Faculty, (GCET- Jammu)
Follow our WhatsApp channel