Bringing skills and education closer

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Bringing skills and education closer

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• Skilling people: To develop skills is a multi-dimensional task, requiring a holistic approach. From linking with employers to preparing people for self-employment, and from educating to building competencies, it's a whole bouquet in itself.
• Key aspects: Skilling has to get employers on board, so productive jobs can be had. Self-employment has to be taught, so that jobs in the "gig economy" may be had. That's not an easy thing to do. And then there's education and its link with skilling.
• Goal of education: Education is not only for employment and employability, but if good education is provided early-on, then life-long opportunities and adaptability can be created. "General education" must mean an integrated set of foundational and transferable skills.
• Details: "Foundational skills" include numeracy, literacy and problem-solving skills, and are the basis for other skills. "Transferable skills" include social, communication and behavioural skills that help in work. 

1. These have an impact on wages, productivity and adaptability
2. These skills can be delivered nicely in the general academic system
3. Hence, to focus on "pure vocational learning" is of little use, and it must be also seen as a medium to learning, rather than just for employment or livelihood

• Details: Imparting holistic skills help children transition from school to work smoothly. Providing right technical skills can help make education more attuned to market and employer demands. 

1. If education and skilling are integrated, it helps both those with limited schooling, and even those out-of-schooling (who can find upskilling and formal skilling)
2. More than 70 per cent of India's workforce is concentrated in firms with less than 20 workers (informal, unorganised)
3. Micro firms are not inclined towards training their workers at all
4. While 80% of India's workers are employed in informal firms, only 3% are formally trained

• Contract labour: As contractualisation of labour rises, formal firms are losing all interest in training staff. So it is the education system alone that must perform this function, while youngsters are still there. Because as they step into the informal, disaggregated and subsistence-oriented workforce, it's very hard to reach and train them. 
• Disconnect: Indian education and skilling is disconnected, and that has two consequences -

1. Practical skills are missing,
2. Resilience is missing in vocational course participants due to absence of foundational skills
3. Covid-19 crisis is the right time to make a concerted effort to change things, because both education and training have suffered very badly. The poorest and most vulnerable have lost out completely, as schools shut down, and internet access was unavailable.

• Nature of work changed: The sudden change in nature of work due to pandemic has meant new skills now dominate, especially digital ones. They are not "transferable skills" anymore, but "foundational ones". 

1. The ability to "learn to learn" and "adapt" to new methods of working is crucial now
2. All schools, ITIs, and colleges must have skills provisions, and a credit framework attached to it.

• Summary: The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) created in 2014 could not perform as expected. Now, it is kept under the same Minister handling Education too. This must lead to the much-delayed integration now, without which, better outcomes are not possible.

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