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I ndia has witnessed rapid economic growth in recent years, driven by the development of new-age industries. The rise in
purchasing power has resulted in the demand for a new level of service quality. According to the National Skill Development
Corporation (NSDC), skills can be classified into four levels based on the degree and duration of the training required.
Skill Level 1 (semi-skilled) refers to skills that can be acquired through short-term courses, focused interventions and on-
the-job training.
Skill Level 2 (skilled) refers to skills that are specific to the occupation and can be acquired through technical or vocational
training.
Skill Level 3 (highly skilled) refers to skills involved in highly technical or commercial level operations and can be acquired
though degrees, diplomas and post graduate education.
Skill Level 4 (highly skilled with specialisation) refers to the skills with high specialisation involving research and design
that can be acquired through doctorate or many years of work experience in a specific sector or area.
This gap between the demand and supply not only affects economic growth, but it also prevents the inclusive growth of the
economy as a whole. Hence, it becomes the responsibility of the government to be aware of such skill gaps and take newer
initiatives for bridging those gaps in order to ensure inclusive growth.
Fresh employment opportunities are getting created in the field of core engineering, retail, hospitality, e-commerce and banking
but there is shortfall of trained people in the country to fill the positions.
The Skills Gap as per the Figure 1 mentions the expected shortage of skilled manpower in various industries by 2022.
Challenges
India is facing a lot of challenges keeping in view the current infrastructure and the policy framework. The challenges faced in
skill development have been discussed below:
Insufficient capacity: Current infrastructure facilities available in the educational institutions throughout the country are
inadequate considering the huge demand for skilled labour. There are not many trained and highly skilled trainers
available. The faculty needs to be motivated and skilled to take up higher responsibilities.
Mobilisation: The outlook of people associated with skill development is still very traditional. The enrolment of the
students for vocational education and training has become an extremely challenging task.
Scalability: Any model to be successful needs a lot of support from different stakeholders. Since there is limited buy-in
from the corporate sector, the progress of such initiatives is slow.
Skills Mismatch: There are lot of issues related to the skills needed by the industry and the skills imparted by the
educational and training institutes. There is lack of industry-faculty interaction because of which the skill sets provided by
the educational and training institutes do not end up suiting the employers’ requirements. As a result, though the people
may be skilled but they do not get employment. It becomes extremely important that the industry professionals are also
included in the design of the skill development curriculum.
Opportunities
Job markets all across the world including India are undergoing a tectonic shift. The future of work in India: Inclusion, Growth
and Transformation Report by the Observer Research Foundation and the World Economic Forum sheds light on the future of
transformative technology and its impacts on work in India. Some key insights from this report are that companies expect
technological change to lead to job creation, not job loss. They recognise the potential of new technologies in the coming years.
The whole focus is expected to be on automation of repetitive tasks, time optimisation, maximising productivity, creation of digital
platforms for online access to job opportunities and formalising informal operations. It is critical for people to keep picking up new
tricks of their trade and keep themselves updated with new technological changes in their sphere of work.
Conclusion
Skill development is the most important aspect for the development of our country. India has a huge ‘demographic dividend’
which means that it has very high scope of providing skilled manpower to the labour market. This needs a coordinated effort
from all stakeholders including:
Government agencies such as Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, National Skill Development
Corporation etc.
Industries,
Educational and training institutes and
References:
1. The World’s
Top Countries for high- skilled employment. (n.d.). Available from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ niallmccarthy/2015/06/01/the-worlds-top-
countries-forhigh-skilled-employment-infographic/#796c442d31b0. Date accessed: 19/10/16
2. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. (n.d.). Available from: http://www.skilldevelopment.gov.in/ nationalskilldevelopmentcorporation.html
Date accessed: 10/10/16 N
Corporation. Available from: http://www.nsdcindia.org/Date accessed: 10/10/16
3. National Skill Development
4. Planning Commission, XII Five Year Plan, Employment and Skill Development http://planningcommission.gov.in/ plans/mta/11th_mta/chapterwise/
chap9_employ.pdf
5. Wheelbox. India
Skills Report. 2016. Available from: https://wheebox.com/logo/ISR-2016-small.pdf Date accessed: 16/10/16.
Ankita Rai
arai@devalt.org
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