A target of 500 million
This is the number we have to skill by 2022. Or else, the billion plus population figure will turn into demographic disaster

Three sets of data have come to occupy the discourse of policy makers and executioners in the country in the few years.

1) India will perhaps be the only country with a majority of population in the working age as the rest of the world grays, which means it will have more people to work than dependents. Till 2020 it will have a median age of 31, compared to 45.4 in Europe, 50 in Japan and 43 in most developed nations.

2) The second, and related advantage India will have will be its huge population base. According to the much-quoted Boston Consulting Group Report, worldover, there will be skill shortage of 56 million people, whereas India will have a surplus of 47 million people. It can thus become the skills capital of the world, and prove to be the leading provider of manpower

3) However, this ‘demographic dividend’ — a term repeatedly used in every dialogue on skills — might come to a naught if the vast population is not skilled enough to find employment. India needs to educate and skill 500 million people by 2022, meaning that each year it should be skilling of over 40 million people! Whereas its capacity is just 3. 4 million people per year. Thus the need to take up skills development as a priority area.

The other reason why skills development has taken centre stage is that an unemployed and  disgruntled populace becomes fodder for terrorist, Naxal and other activities. Hence the Congress dispensation took up skilling and employment generation as a lead agenda. Though of course, at the moment, the two areas of skills development and job generation are yet to be twinned together thoroughly. Mere skilling without employment opportunities would only lead to more frustration. In his Budget speech on July 6, Union finance minister Pranav Mukherjee had stated, “I am sensitive to the great challenge of rising expectations of a young India. It reflects a population that is restless, yet engaged, and is ready to seize the opportunities that it is presented with. There are new and powerful reasons for us to create, facilitate and sustain those opportunities.”

This realization has led to a major change in mindset of the polity, the education establishment and the industry, leading to a policy framework coming into being. A path-breaking step was the National Skills Policy, announced in February 2009, which aims to address all issues pertaining to skills development. At least now the country has the target clear in front of it, and also a blueprint of how to go about it.

National skills development policy
Mission: The policy envisions the establishment of a National Skill Development Initiative with the following mission: National Skill Development Initiative will empower all individuals through improved skills, knowledge, nationally and internationally recognized qualifications to gain access to decent employment and ensure India’s competitiveness in the global market.

Aims: The aim of skill development in the country is to support achieving rapid and inclusive growth through:
a) Enhancing individuals employability (wage/ self employment) and ability to adapt to changing technologies and labour market demands.
b) Improving productivity and living standards of the people.
c) Strengthening competitiveness of the country.
d) Attracting investment in skill development.

Objectives:
a) Create opportunities for all to acquire skills throughout life, and especially for youth, women and disadvantaged groups.
b) Promote commitment by all stakeholders to own skill development initiatives.
c) Develop a high-quality skilled workforce/entrepreneur relevant to current and emerging employment market needs.
d) Enable the establishment of flexible delivery mechanisms that respond to the characteristics of a wide range of needs of stakeholders.

Scope: The coverage of the National Policy on Skill Development includes the following:
a) Institution-based skill development including ITIs/ITCs/vocational schools/technical schools/ polytechnics/ professional colleges, etc.
b) Learning initiatives of sectoral skill development organised by different ministries/departments.
c) Formal and informal apprenticeships and other types of training by enterprises
d) Training for self-employment/entrepreneurial development
e) Adult learning, retraining of retired or retiring employees and lifelong learning
f) Non-formal training including training by civil society organizations
g) E-learning, web-based learning and distance learning.

It’s core operating principles have been listed as follows:

• Government financial support must complement private investment: The Central Ministries must focus on areas where private investment in skilled development is unlikely to be available or forthcoming. The Government would aim at useful public-private partnerships.
• States as key actors: The States being the key actors in Skill Development would set up overarching integrated framework for action for Skill Development through State level Skill Development Missions.
• Deployment of funds: The funds would be deployed more for activities than for buildings and other hard assets. However, upgradation of machinery and equipment, teaching and learning aids will be a continuous process. Creation of infrastructure in latest technology, need-based new initiatives, creation of infrastructure in rural, remote and difficult areas will continue.
• Focus of modular courses, open architecture and short term courses: With fast changing skills in the labour market, focus would be on short, relevant and effective courses that would get candidates into the workplace. They will be welded through NVQF to maintain dynamism and open to feedback.
• Separate financing from delivery: Today Government funds are only available for government delivery. National Skill Development Corporation will support private skill development initiatives. Following financing options will be explored: a) Link financing to outcomes: Today public and private training is financed largely on inputs viz. number of courses, number of students, faculty, etc. Efforts would be made to move towards Government financing linked to placement ratios and outcomes. b) Focus funding on candidates: The focus would be on funding the candidates rather than institutions to create choice. This could be structured as a scholarship, skill voucher, outcome based reimbursement, etc.
• Create infrastructure for on-the-job-training and encourage apprenticeships: The enabling infrastructure for large number of formal apprentices needs to be built that includes modification to the Apprentices Act, 1961.
• Publicise rating and outcome information on training institutions: A framework of accreditation and infrastructure for information dissemination around measurable criteria on institutions will be created. Ratings of public and private institutions would be put on public domain.
• Effective assessment and credible certification: Quality assured learning, credible assessment and certification will be developed. This will allow employers to use the certificate as a proxy to fast track job applicants.
• Restructure employment exchanges as career guidance centres: Employment Exchanges will be restructured as career guidance centres to channelize candidates into jobs, apprenticeships and training.
• Expand formal employment: Formal employment is not only fiscally attractive but more amenable to financing innovations. This will require a review of existing State and Central legislations, which encourage informal and unorganized employment.

The policy, while laying special emphasis on inclusivity by detailing vocational training approach for women, people in border, hilly and difficult areas, disadvantaged groups (SCs/STc/OBCs), minorities, persons with disabilities, school dropouts and child labour and people below poverty line, is categorical about quality and relevance and how these have to be achieved.

Quality Assurance, according to it, is to be based on five key functions:
a) Validation of Qualifications for ensuring that qualifications reflect market needs and workplace requirements and are expressed in the form of competencies with clear assessment criteria;
b) Validation of Training Process for ensuring that proper tools, techniques, methodologies and material, as suggested in the curriculum/standards are used by the resource persons;
c) Quality Assured Assessment of Learners for ensuring that assessment is based on national standards (competencies) and uses valid and reliable assessment methods;
d) Accreditation of Training Providers and Training Institutions for ensuring that training is delivered by competent and qualified trainers in well-resourced and managed institutions;

e) Research and Information for linking the supply of skilled workers to trends in well-researched Labour Market Information (LMI) covering both the organised and unorganised sectors of the economy.

A National Vocational Qualifications Framework will be created for acceptance of our skills worldwide, and for comparability with qualifications overseas, and all the training providers will be required to adhere to this.

The policy lays down following features of the Framework:

a) Competency based qualifications and certification on the basis of nationally agreed standards and criteria;
b) Certification for learning achievement and qualification;
c) A range of national qualification levels – based on criteria with respect to responsibility, complexity of activities, and transferability of competencies;
d) The avoidance of duplication and overlapping of qualifications while assuring the inclusion of all training needs;
e) Modular character where achievement can be made in small steps and accumulated for gaining recognizable qualification;
f) Quality Assurance regime that would promote the portability of skills and labour market mobility;
g) Lifelong learning through an improved skill recognition system; recognition of prior learning whether in formal, non-formal or informal arrangements;
h) Open and flexible system which will permit competent individuals to accumulate their knowledge and skill through testing & certification into higher diploma and degree;
i) Different learning pathways – academic and vocational – that integrate formal and non-formal learning, notably learning in the workplace, and that offer vertical mobility from vocational to academic learning;
j) Guidance for individuals in their choice of training and career planning;
k) Comparability of general educational and vocational qualifications at appropriate levels;
l) Nationally agreed framework of affiliation and accreditation of institutions.
m) Multiple certification agencies/institutions will be encouraged within NVQF.

On infrastructure, the policy stipulates:

a) Extensive use of Information & Communication Technology will be promoted for learning or increasing the impact of learning.
b) Optimum use of existing physical infrastructure will be ensured in multiple shifts or otherwise.
c) Industries will be encouraged to provide their spare capacity to supplement skill development activities.
d) Physical infrastructure will be created, expanded and upgraded according to skill requirement of specific sectors of economy.

On quality of trainers, it has the following provisions:

a) Innovative ways of recruiting trainers will be adopted including the employment of former trainees who have gained workplace experience and of practitioners of a craft, trained as master craft persons.
b) Innovative skill development schemes, in which trainees acquire theoretical learning at the institution while obtaining practical skills in the workplace, will be devised.
c) Retired employees mainly from defence forces will be retrained to meet the requirement of trainers.
d) Award and incentive mechanisms, including reward and career progression systems, will be reviewed and institutionalized to improve the status of trainers.

e) A system of granting Accredited Trainer Status for a limited period, to all vocational trainers of programmes, leading to National Vocational Qualifications will be developed.

f) Special efforts will be made to improve the gender balance among trainers.

Structures for skills
Last two years have seen organizational arrangements at the top for taking up skills as the lead agenda. Some of them have been listed in Chapter 2 of the Policy.

Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development: There was much buzz around it when the body was first mooted in 2008.This apex body for policy direction will be under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister and will have minister for human resource development, finance, industries, rural development and labour and employment, among others, on board. Deputy chairman of the Planning commission will also be a member, and the principal Secretary to the PM will be the member secretary.

National Skills Development Corporation: Set up under the Companies Act, 1956, this is a not-for-profit organisation, meant for identification of skill development needs, development of sector skill plan, streamlining of accreditation, affiliation and other quality issues. It is to be presided over by a person of eminence in the field of skills.

National Skills Development Co-ordination Board: Under the chairmanship of deputy chairman of Planning Commission, and with secretaries of ministries of for human resource development, finance, industries, rural development and labour and employment, among other ministries, as members.

National Council for Vocational Training: Its mandate and scope will increase, to include, among other tasks, design and development of National Vocational Qualifications Framework.

Sector-specific skills
At the moment there are 18 ministries running various skills programmes, and all independently. The need of the hour is to go for a concerted effort. Therefore, under the new skills policy, all the ministries will be required to devise training programmes and set targets for 11th to 13th Five Year Plans, funds for which would be allocated by the Planning Commission.

Not just that, since there are a number of sectors which have tremendous demand for trained workers but which do not have sufficient training, sector skills councils are being mooted, on the lines of chambers in Germany. These councils would lay down norms for training, the skills that a person is supposed to acquire by the end of the course and the testing parameters. This will also help in benchmarking Indian qualifications against the rest of the world.

State initiatives
States have been quick to act on the skills front, some states being particularly proactive. Some novel initiatives have been taken. Karnataka is organising job fairs in a number of towns, in collaboration with private sector. Thousands of students have been turning up for each fair, among them engineering graduates. Their skills are mapped. If they are found employable by a potential recruiter, they get on the spot placement, if not, recruiters or training agencies take up their skilling under modular employable skills (MES) mode, following which they are provided employment. The Government has put a stringent condition with private players, that the training will have to result in employment. The government has also developed its website www.karskills.com. In Andhra Pradesh, the government initiative of Rajiv Udyogasri is identifying in-demand areas like drivers, and going for large-scale training in these areas.

Short-term courses
In all these government, and private initiatives, the emphasis is on short-term. The understanding is that long-term training of say, two years means the student being deprived of wages for that long. Hence he should be capacitated in two to three months to be able to enter the world of work. It’s with this objective that the Government has launched Modular Employable Scheme. Candidates who complete the course successfully in fact get their fee refunded under this.

A new confidence
The country has been late in waking up to the importance of skills in nation building. But now that it has, there is a sense of urgency. Not just the government, but the industry and private training providers are showing the ample seriousness. At the recently-held CII Global Skills Summit, there was already the consensus that the time for number crunching is over, now get down to action. Government, as well as private training providers presented interested models for training, which, in fact can be scaled up. Foreign delegates pointed out that since 2004, when the skills buzz began, there is a paradigm shift in the skills discourse in the country, and already India is talking on the same footing as the other countries.

The question is, with 500 million trained people target to be achieved by 2022, can we already start feeling happy about it?