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A new study from the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Accenture has found that private funding and public-private partnerships are helping India overcome two of the largest challenges to vocational education training: an inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of job offers. The study identifies five steps business and government can take to better support vocational trainees and helps meet India’s goal of engaging 500 million trained youth by 2022.
Vocational education training (VET) must provide prospective employees with the skills required to support the next generation of economic growth in manufacturing, retail, construction and tourism, according to the study. Addressing the rise in the number of VET trainees who do not accept job offers or leave jobs within one month of employment is critical, the research shows.
“This action plan dovetails with India’s Five Year Plan targets. By tapping younger candidates for training from rural, low-income locations, empowering them with employable skills and building their careers in important growth sectors such as manufacturing can help India meets its goals of inclusive, accelerated and sustainable growth,” said Nilaya Varma, managing director, Accenture’s Health & Public Service practice in India.
According to the research:
-Initiatives funded by NSDC and private-sector organizations have achieved high placement rates for trainees. About 50% of those who complete training receive job offers within three months.
-These schemes recorded higher placement rates than similar initiatives.
-Those who leave a job within a month of their hiring cited disappointment with the job profile or pay.
-Pre-placement support services provided to trainees needs to be improved. For example, about 50% of trainees interviewed said resume writing was very important, but only 21% reported receiving such training.
The Indian government created the NSDC in 2009 to work with private-sector companies and organizations and 17 union ministries to ensure that an additional 500 million people would have the skills necessary to be productively employed by 2022. Under the NSDC network more than 2,500 physical and mobile training stations have been created to date to support VET trainees in 352 districts across the country.
“About to be home to one-fifth of the world’s working-age population, India’s path to becoming a high performing nation will be shaped by its ability to impart scalable, market-relevant business and vocational skills to its youth. It is encouraging to witness how these schemes are influencing skills development, helping to provide the necessary skills to the next generation of workers,” said Dilip Chenoy, managing director and CEO, NSDC.
Action Plan
The research identifies five steps VET stakeholders need to take to reduce dropout rates and help VET trainees develop careers.
·Attract people from rural, low-income geographically dispersed locations at a young age – Young people, preferably between 15 and 18 years old, are eager to learn, but they also want to start earning as soon as possible.
·Develop an alternating training-apprenticeship model; with a special focus on manufacturing – Training providers should break their courses into shorter semesters. At the end of the each semester, trainees should be given an opportunity to work for a company as part of an apprenticeship program, which will help them learn on the job and build a better understanding of work life.
·Empower trainees with general skills required for employability – Providing useful skills and education, such as computer skills, English-speaking skills and civic knowledge could enhance trainees’ employability. People from rural, low-income locations who are placed in companies that operate in urban locales often lack these skill sets. Coupling basic courses that help improve overall employability with job-specific skills training can help address this challenge.
·Collaborate with the government and small businesses to fund and operate apprenticeships – Stipends paid to trainees provide an incentive to continue training and set expectations regarding compensation in a trainee’s chosen career. Providing paid apprenticeship opportunities to new trainees, helping them through the apprenticeship phase and creating a career path after they complete training can help set trainee expectations and keep employees motivated to stay on the job.
·Build a career ecosystem of lifelong learning – Stakeholders are shaping the future together. It is time for the skilling system to become a career system that will increase the number of trainees while building value for trainees and employers alike. Vocational training needs to shift from providing standalone transactional services to supporting lifelong learning and career growth for trainees.
Jointly conducted by NSDC and Accenture in the last quarter of 2012, the research is comprised of three parts. Interviews were conducted with 2,000 trainees enrolled in 17 NSDC and six Accenture Skills to Succeed training programs. In-depth interviews were conducted with 23 training partners. Twenty executives with managerial responsibilities from large- and medium-sized organizations who hired employees from the 23 training partners also were interviewed.
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