 "Sustaining the Indian skill juggernaut")
An Indian delegation to UK was taken on a visit to a multi-skill training centre in the outskirts of London. The distinct feature noticed was the initiation available at the centre with the options to the candidates to undertake training, free of cost for a week, in any of the training units at the centre. These included kitchen training, hair dressing and beauty salon, apparel workshop, retail & cash counter, et cetera.
After a week in one or all of the units the candidate could choose any one vocational course to pursue. After the requisite training, the candidate can send his/her CV to prospective employers and once he or she settles in a job, after a moratorium, the training costs start getting deducted in instalments from that person’s salary. Such an approach, unlike in India which seems to be focusing only on the supply side, creates a self-sustaining and need-based ecosystem which allows mobility and flexibility to shift from one sector to another, and to upgrade to new or advanced skills.
In India, as we all know, the unemployment figures are staggering, with hardly any employment growth to match. The number of job seekers registered with employment exchanges across the country as of December 31, 2013, was 468.03 lakh (or 4.68 crore), with about 63 lakh added on an aggregate basis annually. The placement-submission ratio was around 11.6% at all India level during 2013! The training programmes certainly need to link through employment exchanges to the employers to make ‘Skill India’ sustain and succeed.
At the initiative of India’s National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), 34 sectoral skill councils have so far been formed, which augurs well for the Skill Mission. However, this has not yet resulted in a two-way bridge of training and linked employment, which continues to be a mirage lost in pursuing the elusive 60-70% placement target being enforced for all government funding.
The manufacturing and service industries keep complaining about the shortage of skilled workforce but have done precious little to put their might behind the employment challenge. In addition, there are cartels operated by labour contractors in collusion often with HR managers of different companies, so that genuinely ‘trained candidates’ find resistance in their early phase by which they opt out of the job for which they have been trained.
The commitment to National Occupation Standards (NOS) or giving most favoured treatment for workforce trained in recognized Institutes has remained peripheral. While the government spends enormous amounts for skilling, now even having a separate Ministry, it is important to do a reality check on the sustainability of the skilling juggernaut.
First and foremost, it is very important to influence positively and change the attitude of our youth brought up in India’s caste-ridden socio-economic milieu which make them abhor any kind of manual work. I remember the UK Skill Forum chairman proudly announcing that his father and grandfather were plumbers and that he was a third-generation plumber. In India, such manual work-oriented professionals are not respected in society and that is where the context of our skill mission need to commence its long journey of social transformation. It is not just about funding but unleashing a new socio-economic revolution.
In every school if a multi-skilling centre is set up for training from middle school onwards, better engineers and technicians would certainly emerge in the country with a better mindset. It is also important that through prior learning certification, a carpenter or a blacksmith or a jewellery maker gets even a degree to remove the ‘stigma’ associated with such professions.
In India, we often pursue socio-economic reforms by throwing good money after bad ideas and schemes without any multiplier effect on the economy or a wholesome effect on society. In the so-called PPP Model, it has become more about training providers sharing part of government grant with the industry partner, thus creating an incestuous relationship to subsidise industry’s HR costs. Genuine training of trainers is woefully missing in the country and the quality of trainers available is so pathetic that the outcomes often only reflect ‘garbage in-garbage out’ syndrome. The soft and life skills training which are very critical are just for namesake.
As the Skill Development Ministry evolves into a horizontal force across different skill development silos, standardising basic parameters for courses and certification under NSQF, the action seems to be shifting rapidly from the centrally-managed skill development effort to those by state governments.
The Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation and Rajasthan State Livelihood Development Mission are examples where there seems to be considerable convergence in skill training efforts while funding through an aggregated ‘funnel approach’. The quick shift of focus to states, and labour reforms unleashed by select state governments could hopefully shape India’s future of skill development. The Skill Development Ministry at the centre will have to quickly bring about convergence of different agencies like NSDA, NSDC, DGET, etc. and several central government departments involved in skill development so that the federal-state skill jugalbandi does not become a ‘cacophony’.
Skill development in a diverse country like India, especially in the context of the real Bharat, needs to be a highly decentralized activity with schools and existing colleges and engineering and other professional Institutes/ITIs etc. playing a major role to bring about a change in the mindset. Meanwhile the government needs to focus on creating more vocational skill centres (currently at about 10,500) to impart new competencies for manufacturing and service sectors. It should not happen that in the new found zeal for skills training, as it happens only in India, higher education gets relegated to the backburner. This will be detrimental to India’s place at the high table in the creative-innovation economy. It should be remembered that higher education and vocational training are two sides of the same coin. Both are directed at an individual who is aspirational, depending on one’s accident of birth. However, the currency of Indian economic development will stand to benefit only when both sides receive adequate pragmatic attention from the government and stakeholders alike. (Dr. Darlie Koshy is the former Director of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and currently DG & CEO of Institute of Apparel Management (IAM) and Apparel Training & Design Centre (ATDC). He can be reached on Twitter ©darliekoshy2015)
After a week in one or all of the units the candidate could choose any one vocational course to pursue. After the requisite training, the candidate can send his/her CV to prospective employers and once he or she settles in a job, after a moratorium, the training costs start getting deducted in instalments from that person’s salary. Such an approach, unlike in India which seems to be focusing only on the supply side, creates a self-sustaining and need-based ecosystem which allows mobility and flexibility to shift from one sector to another, and to upgrade to new or advanced skills.
In India, as we all know, the unemployment figures are staggering, with hardly any employment growth to match. The number of job seekers registered with employment exchanges across the country as of December 31, 2013, was 468.03 lakh (or 4.68 crore), with about 63 lakh added on an aggregate basis annually. The placement-submission ratio was around 11.6% at all India level during 2013! The training programmes certainly need to link through employment exchanges to the employers to make ‘Skill India’ sustain and succeed.
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In Melbourne, Australia, in a tripartite initiative, the beneficiary industries along with the government and academia, have set up the Kangan Hub, which offers advance training for upgrading skills with a focus on specialised areas. Here the industry participates by giving advanced training to those who want to upgrade skills and to the unemployed to acquire new competencies while assuring placement.
At the initiative of India’s National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), 34 sectoral skill councils have so far been formed, which augurs well for the Skill Mission. However, this has not yet resulted in a two-way bridge of training and linked employment, which continues to be a mirage lost in pursuing the elusive 60-70% placement target being enforced for all government funding.
The manufacturing and service industries keep complaining about the shortage of skilled workforce but have done precious little to put their might behind the employment challenge. In addition, there are cartels operated by labour contractors in collusion often with HR managers of different companies, so that genuinely ‘trained candidates’ find resistance in their early phase by which they opt out of the job for which they have been trained.
The commitment to National Occupation Standards (NOS) or giving most favoured treatment for workforce trained in recognized Institutes has remained peripheral. While the government spends enormous amounts for skilling, now even having a separate Ministry, it is important to do a reality check on the sustainability of the skilling juggernaut.
First and foremost, it is very important to influence positively and change the attitude of our youth brought up in India’s caste-ridden socio-economic milieu which make them abhor any kind of manual work. I remember the UK Skill Forum chairman proudly announcing that his father and grandfather were plumbers and that he was a third-generation plumber. In India, such manual work-oriented professionals are not respected in society and that is where the context of our skill mission need to commence its long journey of social transformation. It is not just about funding but unleashing a new socio-economic revolution.
In every school if a multi-skilling centre is set up for training from middle school onwards, better engineers and technicians would certainly emerge in the country with a better mindset. It is also important that through prior learning certification, a carpenter or a blacksmith or a jewellery maker gets even a degree to remove the ‘stigma’ associated with such professions.
In India, we often pursue socio-economic reforms by throwing good money after bad ideas and schemes without any multiplier effect on the economy or a wholesome effect on society. In the so-called PPP Model, it has become more about training providers sharing part of government grant with the industry partner, thus creating an incestuous relationship to subsidise industry’s HR costs. Genuine training of trainers is woefully missing in the country and the quality of trainers available is so pathetic that the outcomes often only reflect ‘garbage in-garbage out’ syndrome. The soft and life skills training which are very critical are just for namesake.
As the Skill Development Ministry evolves into a horizontal force across different skill development silos, standardising basic parameters for courses and certification under NSQF, the action seems to be shifting rapidly from the centrally-managed skill development effort to those by state governments.
The Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation and Rajasthan State Livelihood Development Mission are examples where there seems to be considerable convergence in skill training efforts while funding through an aggregated ‘funnel approach’. The quick shift of focus to states, and labour reforms unleashed by select state governments could hopefully shape India’s future of skill development. The Skill Development Ministry at the centre will have to quickly bring about convergence of different agencies like NSDA, NSDC, DGET, etc. and several central government departments involved in skill development so that the federal-state skill jugalbandi does not become a ‘cacophony’.
Skill development in a diverse country like India, especially in the context of the real Bharat, needs to be a highly decentralized activity with schools and existing colleges and engineering and other professional Institutes/ITIs etc. playing a major role to bring about a change in the mindset. Meanwhile the government needs to focus on creating more vocational skill centres (currently at about 10,500) to impart new competencies for manufacturing and service sectors. It should not happen that in the new found zeal for skills training, as it happens only in India, higher education gets relegated to the backburner. This will be detrimental to India’s place at the high table in the creative-innovation economy. It should be remembered that higher education and vocational training are two sides of the same coin. Both are directed at an individual who is aspirational, depending on one’s accident of birth. However, the currency of Indian economic development will stand to benefit only when both sides receive adequate pragmatic attention from the government and stakeholders alike. (Dr. Darlie Koshy is the former Director of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and currently DG & CEO of Institute of Apparel Management (IAM) and Apparel Training & Design Centre (ATDC). He can be reached on Twitter ©darliekoshy2015)