Skill Development - scope

further explored. Quality training
infrastructure could be established
within the core business sector of
competence, which would have
the added advantage for trainees
getting hands-on industry experience
as part of these trainings and
a good chance of getting placed
within the industry. This would
also help in bridging the shortages
of skilled manpower within
the sector. Another collaborative
approach could be for enterprises
working in the same broad sector
to come together and create
high quality vocational training
institutions that could cater to the
critical needs of the specific sector
by creating a pool of skilled
manpower equipped with trainings
that are demand-driven. For
instance, enterprises in the power
sector, in mining, in manufacturing
and in the oil and gas sectors,
could pool their CSR resources
to form four National Centres of
Excellence, catering to the specific
needs of these sectors, especially
in under-served areas. These are
potential ways in which industry
can take on part of the responsibility
of training, instead of merely
complaining about the lack of
job-ready skills in specific sectors
of operation.
While channelizing CSR budgets
towards vocational training activities
is one option of contributing
to the skill development ecosystem
of the country, it is definitely
not the only one. Industry- led
apprenticeships could be another
Last, but surely not the least,
is the actual recognition and
reward of the skill or hunar
of a person across the entire
ecosystem especially by
industry. Without appropriate
salary increases for enhanced
skills the incentive to upskill
remains elusive. PSEs can
lead this movement by setting
benchmarks themselves
in recognizing and rewarding
higher skills sets at all levels.
Without doubt, this is the
most apposite time to reflect
upon the current situation
and take active interventions
to change the same.
great means to ensure hands-on
trainings which could also efficiently
facilitate seamless transition
into the workplace. In countries
like Germany, Switzerland
over 60% of young people enter
the job market through this
stream as apprentices and the
system is flexible enough to even
enable lateral entry and simultaneously
offers a path for upward
mobility. The most impressive
part of this ‘dual education system’
is the role that industry plays
in it, with almost seventy per cent
of the training happening within
the industry. In sharp contrast,
India so far has the lowest level
of in-firm training even among
the BRIC countries and we currently
produce merely 2.5 lakh
apprentices per year. This must
change and PSEs could play an
important role through this route
of offering on-the-job trainings
by hiring a much larger number
of apprentices and offering them
hands-on skills enhancement.
Last, but surely not the least, is
the actual recognition and reward
of the skill or ‘hunar’ of a person
across the entire ecosystem especially
by industry. Without
appropriate salary increases for
enhanced skills the incentive to
upskill remains elusive. PSEs can
lead this movement by setting
benchmarks themselves in recognizing
and rewarding higher skill
sets at all levels. Without doubt,
this is the most apposite time to
reflect upon the current situation
and take active interventions to
change the same. Be this through
innovative use of CSR funds for
skill development, offering onthe
job trainings to the youth or
then coming up with innovative
partnerships that recognize the
value of skills, I must underline
again that PSEs have a crucial
role to play.
12 Kaleidoscope July 2013