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Prioritise Vocational Training in Career Objectives www.planningcommission.nic.in
distance education and other mode of flexible learning processes. If we talk about the open university concept, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), it is the best way out of everything. We are also looking forward to the small entrepreneurs in the niche segments who can extend their support in the training process.
smt suDHA pILLAI sECRETARY, PLANNING COMMISSION, gOVERNMENT OF INDIA
What are the opportunities does India have through skill development and vocational training to stand out in the global arena? India has very interesting demographical features. If India has to take the advantage of that, we have to take care of the skills development and vocational training of the youth population. India should rank vocational training in the top five in the list of its priorities of work. And if we are not paying enough attention to it we might loose a great opportunity for the country. Government of India is aware of this and into the process of formulating work plan and drafting policies that were earlier adopted in February in the year of 2009 to achieve the best in the scenario. The policy talks all about the skills development and vocational training, the innovative solutions through it, the core principles that the policy looks up at. Government is also looking into the process to reach out to the maximum number of people through e-learning, 18
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Please enlighten us on the current status of the skill training and employment in India – the growth process, obstacles and the way forward. The obstacle is scaling up the numbers of the training centres. Obstacles come in the way of setting up the quality training centres and increasing them in numbers. It is also important to cater to the workers who are already in the industry but through informal training and has no certification of their skill. Although Government has started initiating the process but the leaders in the industry sector has to take the lead in the process and of course the targeted youth population that we are talking about should prioritise skill development and vocational training in their career objectives. According to you, what are the state-wise disparities in the sector currently? The states are also entitled to set up skill development activities headed by the Chief Ministers. 20 states are already in the process. Others will soon upgrade themselves. Some of them are doing an excellent job. For example Delhi is doing a commendable job. Besides, the industry should be active in the matter. If so then the states will also find their own way to participate in the process of upgrading the ITIs. North East has a different problem because there is no industry set up. So there we are talking to the Public sector enterprises.
What are your views on the importance of Public-Private Partnerships in the process of skills development? The Public Private Partnership or the PPP model is already in progress. This is a tested and tried model in the partnership process. As it is happening, IGNOU is already in partnership with several private organisations in various mode of application. Like for training in accounting and auditing IGNOU is working with Accenture India and travel and tourism it works with the government. In the state level the focus is on the production enterprises along with the state level entities like the ITIs. The private sector is actually getting the benefits of the policy that government has drafted in 2007. The ITIs are also getting upgraded through the PPP model. Besides, the National Skill Development Corporation is also a good example of the PPP model. Where do you place India in the near future in skills development and employment? As per the XIth Five Year Plan, India aims to train 500 million skilled technicians by 2020. The National Council of Vocational Training (NCVT) certificates have a lot of reputation around the world. We had initially looked into the training model of Germany. Now we are looking forward to the model adopted and practiced in Australia. It creates a qualification framework where a diploma holder from the ITI can join the mainstream technical course for a Polytechnic diploma and thereafter a degree course. In Germany the system is more cohesive where the industry participation is at a satisfactory level. Germany has also provisions of training people who are retrenched to bring them back in the mainstream job market. We are also looking to adopt these options inclusively. \\