editorial
Advisory Board Prof. Asha Kanwar, Vice President, Commonwealth of Learning Dr. Jyrki Pulkkinen, CEO, Global eSchools & Communities Initiative (GeSCI) Shri Subhash C Khuntia, Joint Secretary, Department School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India Prof. V N Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor, Indira GandhiI National Open University (IGNOU)
Channelising Skills and Employability through Vocational Education and Training Skill Development, Vocational Education and providing employable skills are the crucial issues to be addressed by our country in order to achieve an inclusive growth, with the existing Government declaring the decade 2010 -2020 to be the ‘Decade of Innovation’. However, the biggest constraint remains the availability of skilled manpower. India has the target to create 500 million skilled technicians by the year 2020 to cater to the requirements of not only to the work force in India but across Globe.The Prime Minister’s National Council for Skill Development, chaired by the Prime Minister, National Skill Development Board, coordinated by the Planning Commission and National Skill Development Corporation are formed to promote skill development both in public and private sectors. While the Government has announced in the union budget 2010 – 11, a 25 % of the plan allocations on the development of rural infrastructure, the spending on social sector has been gradually increased to INR1,37,674 crore in 2010-11, which is 37% of the total plan outlay in 2010-11. The National Skill Development Corporation has also approved three projects worth about INR 45 crore to create 10 lakh skilled manpower at the rate of one lakh per annum. An extensive skill development programme in the textile and garment sector to be launched by leveraging the strength of existing institutions and instruments of the Textile Ministry to train 30 lakh persons over 5 years. In order to support such measures, adequate investment in training and development is also necessary, which will be fostered by measures on skill development and education in the larger economy. IGNOU adopting the concept, structure and services under the Public-Private Partnership has identified for launch of an integrated skill development programme across many of its Regional Centres and Study Centres in India. The School of Vocational Education and Training (SOVET) has started several new programmes providing knowledge enhancement, skills development and help in preparing an individual for job placements in the market. Community College, as an alternative and flexible system of higher education and vocational training, is also one of the early concepts in the area. Assessment and Certification of Prior Learning (ACPL) and institutionalisation of Work – integrated learning can contribute significantly in the skill development sector. Through ICT we need to achieve quality and scaling up in the area of vocational education. The School of Agriculture has also been actively involved in the skill development in agriculture in the form of training, certification and diploma programmes. IGNOU has also established the Institute for Vocational Education and Training (IIVET) in the North East states to impart vocational training to the region. It will require a great deal of efforts from all the stakeholders to achieve the determined target by 2020 to make the inclusive growth happen. I am glad that we are bringing a collaborative special issue with digital LEARNING magazine on Vocational Education and Skill Development in India with the case studies, research articles, and views from the leaders in the field. I am sure that this issue would be a valuable source for institutionalising the concept of Skill Development in India.
Prof. V N Rajasekharan Pillai Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) Guest Editor President: Dr. M P Narayanan | Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Ravi Gupta | Product Manager: Dipanjan Banerjee (mob: +91-9968251626) Email: dipanjan@elets.in Editorial Team: Dr. Rajeshree Dutta Kumar, Shipra Sharma, Divya Chawla, Sheena Joseph, Yukti Pahwa, Pratap Vikram Singh, Sangita Ghosh De, Subir Dey, Dinoj Kumar Upadhyay, Pratap Vikram Singh, Gayatri Maheshwary, Saba Firdaus Sales & Marketing Team: Fahimul Haque (Mobile: +91-9873277808), Gaurav (Mobile: +91-999097333), Debabrata Ray, Anaam Sharma, Arpan Dasgupta, Bharat Kumar Jaiswal, Ankur Agarwal, Priya Saxena, Vishal Kumar (sales@elets.in) Subscription & Circulation: Lipika Dutta (Mobile: +91-9871481708), Manoj Kumar, Gunjan Singh (subscription@elets.in) Graphic Design Team: Bishwajeet Kumar Singh, Om Prakash Thakur, Shyam Kishore Web Development Team: Zia Salahuddin, Amit Pal, Sandhya Giri, Anil Kumar IT Team: Mukesh Sharma, Devendra Singh | Events: Vicky Kalra Editorial & Marketing Correspondence: digitalLearning - G-4 Sector 39, NOIDA 201301, India, Phone: +91 120 2502181-85, Fax: +91 120 2500060, Email: info@digitalLearning.in digitalLEARNING is published by Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd. in technical collaboration with Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS). Owner, Publisher, Printer - Ravi Gupta, Printed at Vinayak Print Media D-320, Sector 10, Noida, U.P. and published from 710, Vasto Mahagun Manor, F-30, Sector - 50, Noida, UP | Editor: Ravi Gupta
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