Swami Vivekananda had said, “A Nation is advanced in proportion to education and intelligence spread among the masses”.
The present-day education is devoid of a definite goal to pursue. Today, a teacher does not have a clear idea about the goal of his teaching. Teaching looks like wandering in the wilderness. The education institutes are teaching how to earn living and not how to live. The degree holders are without jobs and the industrialists are looking for trained employees. The gap between the industry and the education institute is widening.
Considering the sheer size of the population, India can be in the forefront in driving the country’s economy. However, Manpower Group has found that 67% of the Indian employers are fighting to find matching resources in terms of skilled workforce. Take, for instance, IT sector, they make robotics, use 3D printers, make PCBs, use IOT etc., but they can’t find appropriately skilled and qualified talent. The shortage is not of manpower but of skilled manpower. A decade ago, India’s population was considered as a reason for its poverty.
Today, it is the biggest asset if properly skilled and exported. Approximately 600 million youth can be turned into skilled force which can fill the gap of huge skilled workforce requirement of the world. According to National Knowledge Commission Final Report 2006-2009, only two per cent have undergone any sort of formal vocational training and only about eight per cent have received non-formal vocational training in the age group of 15-19. 43% of India’s youth aren’t in employment, education or training. With this kind of background, how can India achieve Skill India Mission? The four main factors which need to be looked into to revamp the Skills Education are:-
Curricula: The most critical aspect of creating a skilled workforce is modification of the education curricula. Unfortunately, all the stake holders, i.e. industry, academia and the nation are not involved in preparation of the curricula. All these are working independently without any common platform resulting in weak curricula leading to direct impact on the future of the youth and the country.
Soft Skills: Learning technical aspect is only one facet of skill development. Concepts such as dignity of labor need to be added into our curricula, besides safety, occupational skills and proficiencies. In addition, soft skills, like responsiveness, relationship, teamwork, team management, IT skills, and communication should be added. These skills are essential for making the youth internationally job ready and will further help them in their growth.
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Involvement of Industry: The youth is required to be industry ready. Hence, it is essential
to involve the industry in preparation of the curricula and also in imparting training to the candidates. Industry should be made a training partner. The students will learn theory in the education institute and practice what he/she has learned in industry and also get training in industrial environment, he/she will be industry ready immediately after completing his education.
The Growth Path: It is sad to note that no proper growth path has been charted by the industry for the workers. A welder joins as a welder and retires as a welder. The individual may be an expert in welding but lacks requisite educational qualification tom grow. Therefore, if the employee is given a formal education along-with practical education, he/she will get an opportunity to grow in his own field. No doubt that, the person who grows from within the organization will be a better manager and will always prove to be a better link between the
workers and the management. This system will help in growth of the individual as well of the industry.
BSDU Model: The BSDU (Bhartiya Skill Development University) Model is based on the concept of “One Machine-One Student”. In order to involve the industry in the training, a unique system of skills training has been initiated by making the industry as a training partner. The curricula are being prepared by a Board of Studies (BoS) consisting of high-level academicians, industrialists and the representatives of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the evaluation of the students’ performance is carried out by the representatives of all the three stakeholders thus, ensuring complete integration of the industry, academia and the Govt. A body of 60 strong luminaries in their own fields are contributing to prepare the curricula. The curricula include soft skills, general education, communication skills, English, computer training, etc., to prepare the youth for international industrial requirements. Also, every alternate semester is in the industry where the students carry out “On-the-Job” training under industrial conditions. The BSDU offers three years Bachelor of Vocation under-graduate degree duly approved by the UGC and equivalent to any other undergraduate course. It also offers Master of Vocation (M.Voc.) and Ph.D. in skills related areas which will help the youth in their growth. Dr. R K Joshi has pledged huge financial support to the university. His dream is to take this concept to the European countries after its success in India.
The youth must be educated to earn his livelihood. He should also be able to live a dignified life. Can he achieve this twin goal without skill education? Only, skill-based education can empower the youth and help India emerge as key contributor to a global skills-based economy. Dr. R K Joshi has shown the way. Now, it is for others to follow.
