Govt. launches ‘Skill India’ campaign on the occasion of first World Youth Skills Day

On the occasion of first World Youth Skills Day, the key focus globally has been to raising awareness about the importance of investing in youth skills development. Coinciding the worldwide celebration, Government of India today launched ‘Skill India’ campaign with ambitious goals. 2,33,000 youth were awarded certificates across the country, and more than 18,000 graduating students received job offer letters on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day. The Indian Government has also set a target to provide skill training to 40.02 crore people by the year 2022.

According to a recent report carried out by the UN, India has the world's largest youth population despite having a smaller population than China with 356 million youth in the age group 10-24 year olds. The participation from the private sector will play a major role in making India’s ambitious dream of ‘Skill India’ campaign giving a shape.

We spoke to industry thought leaders about their take on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day.

Excerpts:

Narayanan Ramaswamy, Partner and Head of Education and Skill Development, KPMG in India

Narayanan Ramaswamy, Partner and Head of Education and Skill Development, KPMG in India

Our economy has the potential to double in 10 years if our ambitious schemes such as Make in India, Defence offset program, Digital India are executed in full force. The most critical factor for this to happen is human resources. While the current estimates for incremental requirement is about 110mn (by 2020), with these initiatives, the total requirement can do as high as 150mn (Additional). This Skill India program is a structured initiative taking along 33 sectors and more covering the entire length and breadth of the country.

50% of our population is below 27 years. We are talking about 700mn such youngsters by 2020. This is the first time in the history of humankind such a large population is actively seeking livelihood and employment opportunities. Skills India gives youngsters the most important aspect for their life - employability and respect in society. Skills India will get India the most important asset of this century - manpower.

Pankaj Bansal, Co-Founder and CEO, PeopleStrong HR Services Pvt. Ltd

Pankaj Bansal, Co-Founder and CEO, PeopleStrong HR Services Pvt. Ltd

Government’s equal focus towards skill development and job generation is a much needed step for matchmaking skills to jobs. When a working population, a large part of which is unemployable (37% as per India Skills Report 2015, an initiative of PeopleStrong, Wheebox, and Linkedin in association with industry body, CII) gets added every year, the problem is not about creating jobs but more about match making the available skills to the jobs that are being created. On top of it employers are putting lot of focus on ‘Quality of hires’. This includes not only the technical skills but soft skills as well. As per India Skills Report 2015, almost 80 % of employers have rated soft skills like adaptability, communication etc. as the most desired skill in the candidates against domain expertise (which was chosen by only 20% candidates).

Government’s recent initiatives like National career portal and career centers which aim to create employability in the workforce , by leveraging the power of technology in training, assessment and recruitment will help in creating 10X impact (compared to traditional initiatives); which is much needed if we want to achieve the mammoth target of skilling 400 mn people. Technology based assessments be it behavioural, cognitive or technical are extensively used by employers for hiring candidates; if they are used for preparing them for jobs as well, a huge gap will get filled.

Campaigns like ‘Make in India’ will create new jobs, but they need manpower trained for these jobs at the same time. It’s good to see a long term vision as government with a consolidated National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015 - India’s first integrated national policy for developing skills and promoting entrepreneurship on a large scale - is trying to align the skills & entrepreneurship landscape of the country.