With skill development being the buzzword, Sameer Joshi outlines its importance and future in India to PRAKRITI ROY
What is the importance of skills for a job in today’s economyIJ
Skill Development is critical towards developing the country’s economy as well as employment opportunities. The Indian education system has not been very efficient in making our youth employable, according to the industry demand statistics. Creating a livelihood for today’s and tomorrow’s youth through job creation or self-employment is the critical need of the hour. National Employability Report 2014 concluded that out of the six lakh engineers that graduate annually, only 18.43% are employable for the software engineer-IT services role. These statistics show that there is disparity in supply and demand of labour due to the lack of technical and soft skills; India’s youth have more theoretical knowledge than practical experience.
Have you noticed changes since the launch of the Skill India campaignIJ
With the objective of making India the skill capital of the world, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is targeting for skilling/up-skilling 400 million people in India by 2022. By providing intensive exposure and awareness, there has been a growth in youth opting for skill training. However, even today, every parent wants their child to receive a formal education and a good job in a typical office setting.
Have more people realised the importance of vocational/skill training along with their professional trainingIJ
Yes. Today’s major concern is that formal education does not provide suitable skills to make candidates employable. There is a huge requirement for skilled manpower. The key is to skill today’s youth, possible through vocational education. Earning a livelihood through a skill will be a way of life.
What are some observations you have made while imparting trainingIJ
Indian youth needs a direction. They are hardworking and are willing to innovate and venture into new territories. What is required is proper guidance, counselling and streamlining of their thoughts and enthusiasm in the right direction. A lot of initiatives are being taken to create awareness and our youth is positively responding to them. For example, there is an increase in the number of women participating in tailoring and beauty related courses.
Where do you feel India stands at the world level in terms of skill-based learningIJ
When we compare percentage of formally skilled work force globally, India scores the least at 2% against Korea (96%), Japan (80%), Germany (75%), UK (68%) and China (40%). India has tremendous potential to improve skill-based learning to not only cater to domestic work force requirements but also to serve as an effective manpower hub globally.
How important is acquiring skills for the progress of Make in IndiaIJ
The Economic Survey 2014-15 has highlighted that in order to bring expansion and structural transformation, India needs to utilise its foremost resource of unskilled labour by creating skilled and industry-ready manpower. While ‘Make in India’ is an important goal, the future course of Indian development depends on both ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’ initiatives. With a substantial amount of foreign direct investments being invited to India, companies that open their factories and manufacturing units in India will need local skilled workforce which can be generated by duly educating the youth through vocational training.
Tell us something about your partnership with NSDC.
We have been providing vocational training for technical courses since 1967. KTI is one of the authorised training partners of NSDC for diploma and certificate courses. We provide students quality training by industry experts who follow strict industry guidelines, helping them widen their job prospects.
