Dr. Haresh Tank, Director, Station-e Language Lab

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Guest Author’s Profile:-

Dr. Haresh Tank is Director, Station-e Language Lab. In the capacity of Director, he is in charge ofconceptualizing and operationalizing initiatives with a special focus on Skills Development. He holds a doctorate inStatistics and is a noted Statistical Analyst. He was also nominated for Young Scientist Award for three times. With a passion for teaching and contributing to the society, he continues to serve as Associate Professor inStatistics. As a Director, Station-e Language Lab, he has initiated several projects in the realm of SkillsDevelopment with Government and private companies.

Article:-

At a juncture when the percentage of employers facing difficulty in finding skilled workforce is as high as 81percent in Japan, 71 per cent in Brazil, 49 per cent in US, 48 per cent in India and 42 per cent in Germany, onewonders what is it that we are turning out from our universities and colleges. Even for India- the youngestcountry in the world, if the percentage is 48 per cent, it is an alarming situation, to put it mildly, because it meansthat half of our companies and businesses are finding it difficult to run their daily operations due to the lack ofskilled workforce. India has the largest number of young people (age group of 14-25) and the highest globalunemployment rate- these are pointers to the nature and efficiency of our education system. Against this, the jobmarket is increasingly being redefined by specific skills. Nobody runs businesses and companies the way peopledid, let’s say, 20 years back. The entire skills set required to work in a company that competes at the global level

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has undergone change, and education, particularly Higher Education, cannot afford to overlook the new realities

of the 2nd decade of the 21st century.

Across the world, skills development has been addressed with considerable seriousness. Sample this, accordingto figures of 2008, the percentage of workforce receiving skills training is 96 per cent in Korea, 80 per cent inJapan, 75 per cent in Germany, 68 per cent in UK and 10 per cent in India. Moreover, it is estimated that 75 percent of the new job opportunities to be created in India will be skill-based. While the skills set has changed andemployers look more and more for 21st century skills in the job seekers, it is required to take a close look at theacademic nature of our curricula and their mode of transaction. It is not that we do not have enough degreeholders in the country; we have a number of them but the world of business and industry thinks that they are notemployable. Surveys and studies are conducted at regular intervals and it is reiterated in the surveys and studiesthat 80per cent workforce in rural and urban India does not possess any identifiable marketable skills.

Against the oft-quoted figure of 500 million skilled workforce required in India by 2022, sample this:

“Of late, employability of graduates coming out of our educational system is becoming a matter of great concern.I am told, only 25per cent of the general graduates across all streams have employable skills.” E Ahamed(Minister of State for HRD and External Affairs)

Let’s face it, we are not Finland that has more than 40per cent of its population going into vocational education.Compared to vocational education, our students are found pursuing degrees in colleges and universities of highereducation. One cannot change that fact, all one can do is to turn this into an opportunity, turn universities andcolleges into skills development hubs.

Leaders of business and industry in India have regularly voiced their concern over the lack of skilled manpowerready to be absorbed in various sectors. We have the government intervening by establishing National SkillsDevelopment Council (NSDC) and several other skills development initiatives in the pipeline but unless our HigherEducation wakes up to this and responds proactively, the youths coming out of it would find it hard to claim aplace in the world, and thus the growth of this country will also remain under threat because without therequisite human resource the magic growth is impossible.

In a country where there is a large dropout rate of children quitting school at young age and a minimalpercentage going into higher studies, do we have more choice than tapping into this small percentage byupskilling them in order to render them readily employable? In sync with this, S Ramadorai, Advisor to the PrimeMinister in National Skill Development Council, says,

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“60per cent of India’s 1.2 billion people are in the working age group. However, only 10per cent of the 300million children in India between the age of 6 and 16 will pass school and go beyond. Only 5per cent of India’slabor force in the age group 19-24 years is estimated to have acquired formal training. Despite this, our economyis clocking an 8.5per cent growth. Imagine what could be if we could leverage our demographic dividend fully.”

Let’s also understand that in a large country like India, only government agencies and system cannot accomplishthis task of upskilling the youth. Private companies with requisite experience in skills training may also be roped into expedite the process of enhancing the skills development of youth in colleges and universities. In today’sworld, particularly in India, the future and relevance of Higher Education is inextricably linked with SkillsDevelopment; the earlier Higher Education accepts this and acts accordingly, the better it is for the country andits growth. Skills Development is not an additional course that can be added to a university curriculum but itrequires to be integrated into the training and education of a youth who will have to be readily employable andcompetent enough to run the operations of a company or business in India. A youth seeking job in the markettoday is expected to have salient life and soft skills which he has no clue about till s/he faces an interview. HigherEducation does little to address the skills requirement of a youth raring to go into the world and make a mark. Tomake it amply clear as to how Higher Education has got to address the issue of skills development andemployability, no better evidence than what Planning Commission’s Approach Paper to the Twelfth Five Year Plansays:

“There is a need for a clear focus on improving the employability of graduates. Indian higher education isorganized into ‘General’ and ‘Professional’ streams. General education which is an excellent foundation forsuccessful knowledge based careers, often fails to equip graduates with necessary work skills due to its poorquality. Graduates now require the skills beyond the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic (the ‘3Rs’). Skillssuch as critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity (the ‘4Cs’) are now important in more andmore jobs. Accordingly, there is need to focus on the ‘4Cs’. Special emphasis on verbal and writtencommunication skills, especially in English would go a long way in improving the employability of the large andgrowing mass of disempowered youth.” (101)

In simple translation, it means that Higher Education in India cannot live on an ivory tower any more. It has toreconsider its role in the growth and development of the country. Unlike the days of yore, now it should ensurethat students studying in colleges and universities are equipped with soft skills such as communicationproficiency. Unlike the existing model of university education, skills development may be integrated into the corepractices of a university.

Policy papers in India are beginning to show their commitment to skills development and employability through it

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but that is not enough either. The true reflection of their commitment would be when they make it mandatory toestablish Skills Development Centres at university and college campuses and provide specific funds for the same.These Centres should be endowed with the task of training each and every student of the college and universityin terms of soft skills and life skills and prepare them for the jobs they dream of. Ideally, in a perfect India ofhopefully some not-so-distant future, universities should buzz with skills training and the youths coming out ofuniversities should show us the way forward. Ideally, a youth completing his/her education should not hunt forthe job; in fact, the employers should come to the doorsteps of the university and look for these skilled youths. IsHigher Education ready for this? This is the key question because the answer will determine the future of thiscountry.

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Mitul Patel 07 Feb 2013

i myself have faced lack of skill development platform and had to find my own ways to enable myself fortoday's working world. Indeed, this is a great initiative. To add to this, I would say the exam patterns alsoshould be based on relative case studies and critical reasoning which drive or force students to think out oftheir routine mind frame. Exams shall be talking of more about implementation and applicability of theoriesrather than just descriptive facts.

Dhiren Avashia 23 Jan 2013

Excellent article by Dr. Tank on Skill Development. Congratulations...

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Mary Binduja V. 17 Jan 2013

There is a profound division between education and employment. Higher education, today is based on theorybut in a working environment skilled work force are needed. Skilled work forces are trained man-powers. Soempirical knowledge has to be imparted effectively in the higher education set-up. Students should not betaught rather should be made to experience what they are actually expected to do in the workingenvironment. There need not be a paradigm shift happening in the higher education but the incision of ablended learning. Instead of moving from theory to practicality, the reverse should take place. The growthand development of the country lies greatly on individual's growth and development.

Dr. Haresh Tank 14 Jan 2013

Thank you very much for your valuable comments, I would like to submit that we require to

- Establish the problem first- it is also wise to establish the ground reality as it is and that too in comparisonwith those who have done work in this area.

- Build the consensus that skills development is a major theme and that we need to work towards integratingit in our education policy, curricula and teacher training.

- What we can do is that we can build a national opinion on skills development and lead awareness drivesthrough articles, blogs, videos, documentaries, research papers, seminars/conferences and using socialnetworking websites to give it the space it deserves and force a policy revision in the case of skillsdevelopment.

- We have to articulate. Your comments exist because this article was written. Otherwise, your commentswould never be articulated. Hence, we need to articulate and re-articulate till we do not see the change thatwe wish to see and that is root-and-branch reform of our education policy with respect to skills development.

Paresh Prajapati 09 Jan 2013

Dear Sir,Nice article. I do agree with worries. Im well aware of this fact. It would be better if you can suggest someconcrete solution to overcome this problem. Sometimes only willingness doesn't work. Do we have properinfrastructure? UGC gives huge grants but is there any network to observe that whether it reaches or not tothe desired level. Before imposing the policies, opinion of the people who actually work at the ground level isbeing taken or not? Generally policies are framed in AC chambers and some times by those who have nothingto do with education. How many officers visit the colleges and how many of those have tried to detect thereasons? Universities have become political battle fields. Appointments are political at every level it hasnothing to do with the abilities of the person. It will not be wrong to say that still we are in the first half of thetwentieth century. But Im hopeful that the nation will continue the progress because when it comes to anindividual no body prefers loss. Students will find their way by themselves and companies will train the staffaccording to their requirements, because even they dont love loss.

Since you are associated with some government projects I tried to convey my feelings. Don't take itpersonally.

Sanjukta Sivakumar 08 Jan 2013

One can understand the concern of the writer here. One also appreciates the need for the 4 Cs. However,this article presents a one-sided view of the situation - solely that of market demands. The market also hasto, and will change with time. What Indian (higher) education needs to create is individuals who think forthemselves, who think creatively - scientists, philosophers, artists, mathematicians, historians, industrialistsand most crucially, teachers. The 'market' has much narrower needs than the aims of higher education.

Dr. Kamlesh Sharma 05 Jan 2013

Skills Development needs basic knowledge of concepts, it is tragedy for indian education system, evenvocational education like engineering, management and teacher education is only theoretical knowledgewithout clearing the real aim of providing knowledge and clearing basic concepts to the students. Definitionsare learnt without context in use of daily life.

Joga Singh 27 Dec 2012

If the present educational policies continue, and they certainly seem to, things are going to get surely worse.You cannot have quality higher education without the quality school education. And see what is happening?The government schools are being not opened but closed, and whatever are open, the governments aretrying their best to finish them because they want to hand all the education over to the private sector, beinggenerally run not by the educationists but by the education mafia. And more than 80% of people cannot haveaccess to this, whatever kind of education they are providing. Just wait a little! The disaster is alreadyknocking at the doors of Indian nation. If you can't believe, compare India's primary school statistics with notUSA, China, or Japan but with Bangladesh. Still, most of the commentators lament only about highereducation and not about the basic foundation. I think (I wish I was wrong) India has already gone to dogs.

Mayur 27 Dec 2012

I think the course structure should be designed taking into consideration the level of skills required for apassout to get a job. for eg : major of passouts of MBA opt for Finance / HR / Tech etc in specialisation &what they get in the end is a job in sales or marketing. True world differentiates between the studies they do& practicality. I think the person should enhance his skills contineously on & off the campus. I don't knowHarishji whether I am right or wrong in depicting my thoughts.

Drashti Majithiya 27 Dec 2012

Skills Development is a very wide concept. It should be implemented in universities and colleges so studentscan get the exposure rather than staying just in the narrow criteria of studying through books. Knowledge the

word itself is the widest word and which consist of skills development and specially when it is the concept ofdeveloping the communcation skills. I really appreciate the hard work of Dr. Haresh Tank in putting thisconcept in to actual implementation and encouraging the adaption of the concept.

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