According to a data shared by All India Council for Technical Education, more than half of MBA graduates could not get hired in campus placements in 2016-17. Just 47% of MBAs were placed, 4% less than the previous year, and at a five-year low. The drop in placements for postgraduate diploma holders was even bigger at 12%. Note that the numbers did not include graduates from the elite Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) which are not affiliated to AICTE. This concern gets highlighted again with the insights from the recently released Times Higher Education Global University Employability Ranking 2017. Only three institutes from India, were able to find a place in the top 150, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) was ranked 29th, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) at 145th position and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) at 148th position.
How do we tackle this demand-supply gap? According to the India Skill Report 2017, only 4% in 18-21 years of age bracket are employable. And 39% people are employable between 22-25 years as compared to 30% for people aged between 26 to 29 years. The issue is thus not just limited to fresh graduates.
On 15 July 2015 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a campaign Skill India with an aim to train over 40 crore people in India in different skills by 2022. The journey towards this goal has been slow but steady. Although there hasn’t been any groundbreaking development but a lot of work is going on to promote skill development. Let’s take a look at some of these initiatives:
- For Instance, on 9th November 2017, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) hosted the National Entrepreneurship Awards 2017 where National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF) Manuals were released by National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) which will provide the benchmarks or quality criteria which the different organizations involved in education and training must meet in order to be accredited to provide education and training/skills activities.
- In addition to this, to encourage development of entrepreneurial skills among school students, course module on entrepreneurship was released for class IX and X. Capturing success stories of entrepreneurs who have walked the extra mile to initiate positive changes, a compilation handbook ‘Swalamban ki Ore’ was also jointly released by National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) and Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE).
- As reported by HansIndia on 27th November, the National CSR Network Signed MOU with FORE School of Management, to promote skill development activities in the Skills CSR Conclave.
- In the beginning of November another MOU was signed between Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) and Singapore-based ITE Education Services, to promote skill development in the state, as reported in TOI.
- Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Udacity India for complementing the skills imparted by the vocational system and providing better livelihood opportunities. As mentioned in the report by Economic Times the partnership looks forward to open new and higher standards of training opportunities for students to enhance their core skills and to get future job ready. Basically, through this MoU, Udacity India and TSSC aim to drive skill development for youth in India.
- The AICTE along with Monster India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as reported by Moneycontrol on 7th November. And Monster India will manage and monitor campus recruitment activities of over 10,360 colleges approved by the AICTE with a collective intake capacity of over 36 lakh students from various streams- engineering and technology; applied arts and craft; hotel management and catering; management; pharmacy and architecture and town planning.
- ASDM has signed an MOU with ITE, Singapore to establish North East Skill Centre in Guwahati focusing on trades Beauty & Wellness, Retail services, Hospitality operations and Food & Beverage services to replicate skilling of ITE, Singapore model in Assam. ASDM will take similar initiative with scheme development schools of South Korea for automobile, Japan for electronics and Taiwan for floriculture to introduce their skilling model in the state.
- Earlier, this November, The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved two new World Bank supported schemes of Rs. 6,655 crore Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE). As mentioned in HansIndia, SANKALP is Rs 4,455-crore Centrally-sponsored scheme including Rs 3,300 crore loan support from World Bank whereas STRIVE is a Rs 2,200-crore central-sector scheme, with half of the scheme outlay as World Bank loan assistance.
With more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35, India has a demographic challenge at hand. In fact, it is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan. According to Youth in India report India is expected to have 34.33% share of youth in total population by 2020. This calls for a more robust and progressive mechanism to ensure that a large share of population in working age spectrum becomes employable or job ready.