National Skill Development Mission
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The National Skill Development Mission was announced in the Budget Speech of 2015-16 and it aims to consolidate the skilling initiatives spread across several Ministries and to standardize procedures and outcomes across 31 Sector Skill Councils[1]. For instance, currently, over 70-odd Skill Development Programmes (SDPs) are being implemented by Government of India, each with its own norms for eligibility criteria, duration of training, cost of training, outcomes, monitoring and tracking mechanism etc.
The Mission provides a strong institutional framework at the Centre and States for implementation of skilling activities in the country.
Generally a "mission mode" project implies a project that has clearly defined objectives, scopes, implementation timelines and milestones, as well as measurable outcomes and service levels.
Policy framework behind National Skill Development Mission
Recognizing the imperative need for skill development, National Skill Development Policy was first formulated in 2009. The existing policy was reviewed in 2014-15 to take account of its progress in implementation and emerging trends in the national and international environment. The new policy- National Skill Development and Entrepreneurship policy of 2015 supersedes the policy of 2009 and would form the backbone of National Skill Development Mission.
The objective of this policy is to meet the challenge of skilling at scale (skilling large number of persons at the same time) with speed, standard (quality) and sustainability. It aims to provide an umbrella framework to all skilling activities being carried out within the country, to align them to common standards and link skilling with demand centres. In addition to laying down the objectives and expected outcomes, the policy also identifies the various institutional frameworks for reaching the expected outcomes.
Approach adopted in the policy: As per the Policy, Skills development is considered as the shared responsibility of government, employers and individual workers, with NGOs, community based organizations, private training organizations and other stakeholders playing a critical role.
The policy links skills development to improved employability and productivity to pave the way forward for inclusive growth in the country. The skill strategy is complemented by specific efforts to promote entrepreneurship to create enough opportunities for skilled workforce.
“Skill India programmes” goes alongside the “Make in India” campaign – i.e, enhancing the supply of skilled labourers to encourage producers to undertake their manufacturing initiatives in India.
The new Policy has four thrust areas:
- It addresses key obstacles to skilling, including low aspirational value, lack of integration with formal education, lack of focus on outcomes, low quality of training infrastructure and trainers, etc.
- Further, the Policy seeks to align supply and demand for skills by bridging existing skill gaps, promoting industry engagement, operationalising a quality assurance framework, leverage technology and promoting greater opportunities for apprenticeship training.
- Equity is also a focus of the Policy, which targets skilling opportunities for socially/geographically marginalised and disadvantaged groups. Skill development and entrepreneurship programmes for women are a specific focus of the Policy.
- In the entrepreneurship domain, the Policy seeks to educate and equip potential entrepreneurs, both within and outside the formal education system. It also seeks to connect entrepreneurs to mentors, incubators and credit markets, foster innovation and entrepreneurial culture, improve ease of doing business and promote a focus on social entrepreneurship.
Organisational Structure of National Skill Development Mission
As per the Cabinet decision on 2 July 2015, the National Skill Development Mission has a three-tiered, high powered decision making structure.
- Governing Council: At its apex, the Mission’s Governing Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, will provide overall guidance and policy direction.
- Steering Committee: The Steering Committee, chaired by Minister in Charge of Skill Development, will review the Mission’s activities in line with the direction set by the Governing Council.
- Mission Directorate: The Mission Directorate, with Secretary, Skill Development as Mission Director, will ensure implementation, coordination and convergence of skilling activities across Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments.
The Mission also runs select sub-missions in high priority areas.
Further, the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the Directorate of Training will function under the overall guidance of the Mission.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is the nodal administrative ministry for the Mission, organically linking all three decision making levels and facilitating linkages to all Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments.
Target Group of the Mission:
Based on the Census 2011 and NSSO (68th Round) data, it is estimated that 104 million fresh entrants to the workforce will require skill training by 2022, and 298 million of the existing workforce will require additional skill training over the same time period.
Background:
India is one of the youngest nations in the world with more than 62% of the population in the working age group (15-59 years), and more than 54% of the total population below 25 years of age[2]. Based on data from the 68th Round of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), it is estimated that only 4.69% of India’s total workforce has undergone formal skill training, compared with 52% in the USA, 68% in the UK, 75% in Germany, 80% in Japan and 96% in South Korea[3]. The Mission proposes to enhance the employability of the people thereby reaping the demographic dividend.
National Skill Development Mission hastens and scales up the skilling efforts initiated earlier through the creation of the National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) in 2009, the launch of the NSDC in the same year, and creation of the NSDA in 2013.
Other Institutional Changes with the skill India Programme: Skill Developments Initiatives were spread across various Ministries and Departments like Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Finance etc. The first dedicated Department of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship was created on 31 July, 2014, which became a full-fledged Ministry on 10 Nov, 2014, with NSDA, NSDC and NSDF under its purview. Further, the training and apprenticeship verticals, comprising of the entire network of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and Apprenticeship Training schemes, were transferred from the Ministry of Labour and Employment to Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) on 16 April, 2015.
Also See
- National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
- National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme (STAR)