Challenge lies in changing the mindset

We have inherited a system of education, which invariably generates an expectation in the mind of the parent and the child of a white collar occupation. What we require instead is a system that produces a multi-collar workforce.

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We need the white collar workforce; fortunately there is no shortage in this category. A grey collar workforce — the knowledge worker for the ever-growing demand of a knowledge economy, which includes not only information and communication technology skills, but also such soft skills as problem solving, analytical and effective communication skills.

A blue collar workforce for shop floor work in manufacturing and the service sector, and a rust collar workforce, trained in basic skills across sectors.

Skills should be benchmarked to national and, where possible, international standards. The system should provide for mobility between collars and reskilling opportunities as individuals gain in experience and expertise, and seek value addition for improvement in their prospects.

There are four challenges that need to be addressed. The first is availability of infrastructure, the issue of infrastructure can be resolved by bringing in “off hour” usage of the existing training and academic institutions, and most importantly, through redundancies that exist in the corporate sector.

The second is that of quality. The skills must be nationally and globally bench-marked, and the content should be attuned to changes that take care of the variability that local conditions bring into the picture. This could be done by involving occupational experts from industry, academic experts with experience of delivery of such training and from experts and institutions that have the experience and method of designing and delivering cutting-edge syllabi and assessments.

The quality assurance structure should include teams of visiting verifiers, quality inspectors, trainers to discharge the training programmes and specially trained and qualified teams of independent assessors, who certify to bench-marked standards.

The third issue is the cost of training. These courses should be highly affordable. A strong connection to work should ensure that the candidate is able to realise the amount in full within a couple of months. In addition, such training could be subsidised by development institutions, employers and philanthropic organisations, and be part of the corporate social responsibility programme.

However, the biggest challenge lies in the prevailing mindset. Dignity of labour is a concept little appreciated and much less practised in India. Our students queue up outside colleges with high cut-offs, pay through their nose to get admissions without realising that India produces 2.7 million graduates every year with no relevant skills that connect to work and employment.

Somewhere, we will have to wake up to this reality and provide dignity to labour, the status it deserves. Urban India has a penchant to emulate some values of the West, yet stops short of emulating ‘dignity of labour’ as a value. We will need help from all quarters to bring this change.

In a modest and innovative initiative, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched a pilot “Skills Initiative” to lead India’s march towards becoming the “skill capital of the world”. The initiative will help people find work and employers find qualified employees.

It should encourage workers to participate in leadership and reskilling training programmes, and encourage industry to increase levels of investment in education and training and to improve the return on that investment. It caters to all comers, who for reasons not all of their own making, have had to leave school and for those who after finishing school are underemployed or unemployed. The clear objective is to improve competitiveness and self-employment opportunities.

The pilot programme launched by the CII has brought us face to face with the challenges. They are real. They have to be addressed. Some of them will take time, but there is universal agreement on the need and the urgency of the initiative. From Baramulla in Kashmir to Coimbatore, from Shillong to Patna and on to Loni (in rural Maharashtra), we have witnessed enthusiasm and hope. As every day passes, and new inputs become available, our resolve is fortified.

A preliminary inquiry tells us that we need a skilled workforce in travel and tourism, hospitality, telecommunication, computer and BPO skills, agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, small businesses, garment and hosiery, airconditioning, hairdressing, health community and social care, motor vehicle engineering, sales and marketing, office management and secretarial practice, laundry services, driving, and transportation and transportation logistics, such as warehousing, packaging, preservation, cold chain management, distribution, etc.

In the construction sector alone, we need to skill in scaffolding, masonry, fencing, tiling, painting and finishing, plumbing, carpentry, building, sanitation, water, ready mix cement, facilities management and back up support.

What will it take to ramp this up so that India can become the skill capital of the world? A partnership approach between all stakeholders may help identify a countrywide network of centres for training and assessment. It is necessary to engage the stakeholders and determine ways of getting co-ordinated action between academic institutions and private and public industry. Critical to the success of this venture is the setting up of an assured delivery organisation. Fortunately in part, this is possible. In uniform, servicemen train to defend the country. Out of uniform, ex-servicemen could organise themselves to provide a skill training organisational structure.

The crossover would come naturally and easily. In the prevailing system the bulk retire in their early forties and on superannuation, they are ideally suited to train. Training can be supervised close to village and home, and in the skill that the region needs. This would also help harness, what is today, a loss of a trained, and disciplined national resource.

There is enough room, requirement and opportunity for each of us to contribute.

The writer is a former GOC-in-C, Western Command, and at present Principal Adviser, CII