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“As India aims to become a developed country by 2047 under the PM’s vision of “Viksit Bharat”, improving the productivity of its young population is essential,” the paper, Education and Skilling for Employment: From Credentials to Learning Outcome authored by NITI Aayog member Arvind Virmani, said.
As per the paper, while access to education has expanded, learning outcomes remain weak. “There is a gap between the credential or degree and the learning expected of students with those qualifications with many students lacking the job skills needed to secure matching jobs,” it said, adding formal education alone does not guarantee better wages or economic mobility.
According to the paper, India’s education and skilling landscape faces challenges such as raising the minimum learning outcomes to the benchmarks appropriate for the per capita GDP levels which we are aiming to reach by 2047 and lowering the drop out rates of students between primary and secondary education.
Only 7.7% of firms in India provide formal training to their employees compared to 8.7% in Vietnam and 8.4% in Indonesia, the report said.
“This could be partly due to more competitive labor markets for corporate employees,” it said, suggesting the need for incentivising companies and large firms to use a much greater fraction of their funds to train both employees and to upgrade ITIs and polytechnics. “This will be critical, if we want the Indian private sector to compete with Thailand, Malaysia and Mexico, with 18%, 24% and 38% of their firms having employee training programs,” it added.
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The paper calls for investments for training the trainers, especially for low and medium skill occupations and blue-collar work such as repair, maintenance, and construction.
“Capital subsidies are needed to buy quality tools and equipment as it impacts the training outcomes,” it said, suggesting the need to recognize skill development as a service industry to expand access to bank credit and visas.
“Partnerships with Australia (TAFE), Canada, and Germany can support master-trainer development,” it added.