SKILLING THE UNSKILLED
Apprenticing is the answer to the widening gap between our education and job roles
Our educational ecosystem isn’t particularly good at blending learning with working, or learning by working. Though we have introduced numerous programmes in our schools and higher education institutions that focus on practical learning by project work, group activities, competitions and hackathons—all appreciable initiatives, their very existence proves that we believe learning as a process is different from working. The way it should be is that one has to learn to work before beginning work. In an environment of transforming jobs infrastructure, it would be wise to accommodate broader learning processes such as apprenticeships or skilling programmes, leaving it on the student to decide the mode of learning one is most inclined towards.
HIGHER EDUCATION CONUNDRUM
A large number of candidates who opt for industry apprenticeship are doing so while pursuing their education. Our country’s higher education framework is often subject to criticism for failing to accommodate diverse learning platforms. Apprenticeship solves this higher education learning conundrum but is limited in operation as students can’t be at two places simultaneously. Higher education institutes in India have to abide by archaic rules and regulations when it comes to minimum classroom attendance. Confining talents into a room, where it is uncertain if they’ll grasp whatever is being taught, is a system that we need to reconsider.
BRIDGING THE INDUSTRY-EDUCATION GAP
Apprenticeship holds the potential to emerge as a solution to multifarious industry-related problems. We have been listening to industry experts share their views about engineering graduates and MBA holders not being industry-ready. This is happening despite our efforts to elevate the standards of our educational institutions at par with international benchmarks. Clearly, there is a gap between the jobs which are vacant and the workforce that is available. We should start by creating awareness particularly in youth that there can be no viable substitution for the experience that students obtain when they join the industry.
VALUING ITS APPRENTICES THROUGH TRAINING
Industry should start appreciating apprentices by providing them with what they seek the most from their training programme. These days, we often hear from apprentices that they are made to do inferior jobs and are treated like second-grade employees. This must end. In fact, to enable fruitful learning experience, employers must seriously consider hiring training partners (TPs) to skill their apprentices in areas which are not covered in course of their regular work. This training could coincide with work, with separate times allotted for formal training and regular work.
COMPLICATED APPRENTICESHIP SPACE
The government is also emphasising on promoting apprenticeship. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the newly formed Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship have outlined substantial plans in this direction with the MHRD coming up with the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) and National Employability Enhancement Mission (NEEM) while MSDE has introduced the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS). To provide ample opportunities to apprentices enrolled under these programmes, we need to sketch ways to lure companies into cooperating more with the government-run programmes and avoiding doing so by private means. We can open a single window—at the industry’s end—to help them scroll, find and hire apprentices fit for available job roles.