India ranks low in skills
: Coursera, an online learning platform, recently released its inaugural global skills benchmarking report - ‘Global Skills Index: 2019 (GSI)’. The report reveals skill trends and performance data for 60 countries and 10 industries across data science, technology, and business.
Leveraging actual Coursera learner performance data, the GSI provides actionable insights to governments and companies, which they can use to design a workforce transformation strategy that addresses their skills strengths and shores up their weaknesses.
“The global skills landscape is under major transition. With technology advancing faster than humans, the skills that once fueled careers, industries, and entire economies will no longer suffice,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera. “With the launch of Coursera’s Global Skills Index, governments and companies now have unprecedented access to high-quality skills data to understand how their workforce stacks up against the world and take action on any critical upskilling opportuni- ties.”
The Coursera Global Skills Index highlights both global and regional skill performance for Asia Pacific countries, including India. The Global Skills Index reveals that 90 percent of developing economies are falling behind or are at risk of falling behind in critical skills. India is included, ranking emerging or lagging globally across the three domains. Globally, India ranks #50 in business, #44 in technology, and #51 in data science, which signals a great opportunity for more focused upskilling efforts on key competencies. India is also behind regionally — among the 16 Asia Pacific countries profiled in the report, India ranks towards the middle or the bottom. India’s strength in Technology and computer-related skills shows positive skill potential, and is likely driven by the country’s large IT industry and substantial workforce investments in advanced technologies. Within technology, India ranks #9 regionally, with databases (37%) and security engineering (32%) as its strongest performing competencies. Within data science, India is also exceptionally strong in maths (75%), revealing a competitive skill proficiency in foundational skills.
NEW DELHI