There is a huge gap in what comes out of academia and the skills required by the industry. Organisations are constantly being challenged to look at changing the culture of learning within their working environments and focus on helping employees advance their skills as and when required. The skills of the future are going to be different than what we have today and it is the responsibility of the individual to learn and be compatible with what the market demands. Technology is an enabler for learning, and virtual technology will add to the way people learn and develop skills.
It is also essential to integrate skills in the mainstream vertical instead of selecting skilling as a separate subject, through academic institutions, universities and training partners all coming together.
The latest India Skill report indicates that only about 45.6% of the youth coming out of educational institutions are employable. The mismatch between skill, academic training and employment has widened, leading to a situation where, on one hand, employers are unable to find appropriately trained people, and on the other, the youth are unable to find employment that they aspire for. In order to address the mismatch between supply and demand, the first and foremost thing which needs to be done is to enhance respect for skills, it is also necessary to harmonise youth aspirations with industry demand and the training offered by various training institutes.
If you look few years back, a hotel management diploma was not considered equivalent to graduation. Second, the structure of academic institutions, in terms of the faculty, is very conventional. While the incentive is in terms of knowledge, recognition, creation, the focus is more on knowledge and less on skills. It is critical that we now target the primary schools and introduce compulsory vocational courses with clear workshop contents during the last three years of school before students enter college. Students need hands-on training.
Entrepreneurship is the need of the hour. In has been estimated that each entrepreneur creates three other job opportunities, and every dollar spent on the training, results in 10 times investment into the market. So this is the most cost-effective intervention. It is believed that there are three important things — this triple model works more effectively — industry, academia and Government. Everybody has to play their own role in the ecosystem for skill development. Some of our institutions have actually become placement centres as they guarantee placements and in the two or three years, you just pass time. The focus should be on quality and access. It is important to assess the outcomes of various interventions undertaken so far that the future course of policy action can be planned or modified. This calls for the need to develop skill development indicators (SDIs) to improve the effectiveness of various platforms set-up by the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship.
With the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, it needs to be ensured that our youth manages the shifts in skill requirements. The need of the hour is to build evidence that can redirect policy solutions to address the constraints, make policy inclusive and sustainable according to the demographic context of each state in order to fully realize the potential of youth and ensure optimum income and employment for the workforce.
Experts say India will have to grow at the rate of 9% or more per annum consistently for the next 20 years to reach China's present per capita GDP which stands at $8,500 as compared to India's current GDP per capita of $1,800.
This clearly shows the immense potential that exists for skilled talent in the country.
— The writer is Shaheen Khan, founder-director of Council of Education & Development Programmes Skill Institute, Mumbai
