Skill training at an early stage can boost employability
With a population of roughly 1.25 billion, of which more than twothird is under the age of 35, India possesses a huge demographic dividend with the potential of becoming the manpower capital of the world.
The country has taken great strides in the development of the education sector and the number of institutions as well as student enrollment had grown over the years. However the country is far from realizing its potential as the manpower capital due to the rampant lack of employability. Studies by a leading employment solutions company and by the industry body ASSOCHAM have found that barely 7% of all engineering and MBA graduates are employable.
Employable skill or the lack of it is a major contributor to such a dismal rate of employability. Our education system overtly focuses on the development of theoretical education and skill development has been neglected for a long time.
The current government has emphasized a lot on skill development programmes and a new ministry (Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) was up set up in 2015 in our Country.
Efforts have been made by the Government in promoting skill development program across the country however in order to envision India as Worlds Skill Capital more and more PPP models should be promoted by the Government.
In a highly globalized world, there is an increasing demand for skilled workers and about 90% of employment opportunities today require vocational skills.
Contrast this with the situation in our country where on 20%3 of all graduates gets meaningful employment. In order to increase employability and to realize the country’s potential as the human resources capital of the world, it is critical that skill development and training is developed and due focus is paid to the sector.
For skill training to be truly effective there is a need for skill education to be integrated into the school curriculum. This will enable students to learn about a trade progressively over the course of a few years.
This will ensure a more holistic understanding of the trade and extension of better quality skills. As it is, the current system of out of school vocational training is low on efficiency mainly because of the short duration of courses and palletized training.
As with any form of education or learning such as music, dance or even the formal education, it is best for skill training to be introduced early as it will allow students to build interest in a trade, gain confidence about his skills and also build a broadbased pool of skilled resources that can power the growth engines of our country.
Introducing skill training early in schools will also enable the students to learn and appreciate multiple trades before identifying a trade of their choice upon which they wish to build a career.
About 15%4 of the roughly 300 million children enrolled in primary schools across the country reach the university level. Where do all these school dropouts go without education nor training in any skill.
As is evident from cited statistics, not all engineering graduates make for good engineers or MBA’s qualified managers. The reality is that while some students will certainly excel in academics, the others may have a knack for certain trades.
Each individual has his/her own innate skill sets. Introducing skill training early at the school level will have the dual benefits of arresting the problem of high drop outs in schools while at the same time help build a talent pool of skilled manpower, trained and ready to join the workforce.
The shortage of skilled workers is a global phenomenon with studies indicating a shortage of upto 50 million skilled manpower by 20205. India with its demographic advantage is likely to be the only nation with such a surplus of skilled manpower that can meet the global shortage of skilled manpower.
For that to become a reality, skill training needs to be strengthened, and mainstreamed into the education system, and for that schools have to play a very big role.