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What aboutaspirations?
THE figures have been done to death. The skills fraternity knows
the target of 500 million persons to be skilled by heart now. As
Roy Newey, Group Board Director of A4e puts it, even in dreams
he sees that figure. But will the skills world get down to the task
of achieving that figure? And take care of quality, while ensur-
ing the quantity (numbers)? That was the question that was paramount at
the FICCI 4th Global Skills Summit held in New Delhi on September 15-16,
which was attended by the whos who of skills and vocational development
in India from Government and corporate sector, as well as British, German,
New Zealand and other foreign delegations. The formation of Sector Skills
Councils and framing of National Vocational Education Qualification Frame-
work constituted important talking points at the gathering, and much expe-rience sharing from foreign delegations happened on these themes.
But a fresh note was struck at the conference when, starting with RV
Kanoria, Sr Vice-President, FICCI, speakers and those in the audience raised
the question, amid this target setting and struggle to meet the numbers,
what happens to individual desires, aspirations and inclinations? Awareness about glitzy lifestyle has permeated
down to villages, and the youth of today cant be kept curtailed at lowest levels of manufacturing/ services. What
happens when a chauffeurs son doesnt want to remain
a driver or your cooks son doesnt want to remain a cook
but wants to do BA/ MA, ie wants a career progression?
Are we going to make provisions for these aspirations and
academic possibilities for a person pursuing vocational
field, or will a person, once a plumber, forever remain at
the same level? Because if not skilling the youth is callingfor demographic disaster, then not meeting their aspira-
tions will also feed into their frustration. In future dis-
courses on skills and vocational development, this career
and counseling aspect will have to be given due space.
The other area neglected in earlier conferences which
was duly emphasised was traditional arts and crafts. The
conference suggested some healthy models for providing
them livelihood, while retaining their esteem.
IN SEMINAR AFTER SEMINAR, THE HERCULEAN SKILLING TARGETS PROVIDE THE TALKING POINT.
THE 4TH GLOBAL SKILLS SUMMIT BY FICCI DEPARTED FROM THE TEMPLATE AND PROVIDED SPACE
FOR INDIVIDUAL DESIRES
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Thoughts fromthe top
Agalaxy of skills stalwarts brainstormed these
issues. Emphasising the importance of skills
development, S Ramadorai, Adviser, PM National
Skills Development Council, said in his keynote address,
If we look around the globe, we find that nations that
have succeeded in tiding over the global economic slow-
down are those that have traditionally invested in skill
building. Countries like Germany are still doing well in a
highly-depressed European economy, due to their highly
skilled workforce. Lauding the IT industry example, he
said, A highly skilled workforce can be the passport to
Indias success. The IT industry is a standing example of
the success that can be ours, provided you have people
trained to global standards. Indian IT by default trained
for an overseas market, a market that was short on pro-
grammers. What began as a rudimentary work, today
has moved up to value adding, cutting edge innovation
because we showed that we could raise the bar at an
attractive price point.
But reminding the audience that career suitability was
essential, he said that while there were posters even in
rural areas inviting the youth to join IT courses, not
everyone is suited for the job, so we need to direct peo-
ple to other emerging opportunities as well. We need
world class plumbers, top class welders, well mannered
chauffeurs, trained domestics and healthcare workers.
There is a need to respect these skills and provide up-ward mobility so that people can see these as stepping
stones to further success.
He raised a pertinent point about artisans and
craftsmen, saying, Not being able to manage a liveli-
hood, many are doing menial jobs in programmes like
NREGA. Can we not find a better use of their talent? We
should either find them a better market connect for their
goods or migrate them into jobs where their dexterity
and creativity are leveraged.
He urged stakeholders in the skills field to extend
training support to states like MP, UP, Bihar, Rajasthan,
West Bengal and Orissa, where almost half of the popu-
lation resides, and to focus on skills related to agricul-ture like dairy, agro-processing and animal husbandry,
which will help generate local employment. He gave the
example of tribal district of Valsad in Gujarat, where
dairy farming reformed an entire tribal community.
In his inaugural address, Sharda Prasad, Director
General, DGET, expressed happiness that the skills agen-
da has moved from margins to the centrestage and from
largely Government sector to private sector. Also that
the number of ITIs has increased from about 5,000 in
2006-07 to 9,500 now, and DGETs own outlay has in-
creased form about 100 crore to about 1,200 crore per
annum. And the placement in ITIs has increased from 35
per cent in 2003 to 80-90 per cent in 2010-11. But he
stressed on the challenges of quantity, quality, relevanceand systematic reforms, and the solutions to these in the
form of NVQF, Sector Skills Councils and modernisation
of all the employment exchanges in PPP mode.
Dilip Chenoy, MD and CEO, National Skills
Development Corporation, described in detail the six sec-
tor skills councils which had been approved, besides oth-
ers which were yet to be approved; besides detailing the
33 projects of training providers that NSDC had cleared.
Talking of challenges, Chenoy also brought home the
point that brand awareness was necessary to remove the
social stigma. As of now skills means blue collar work,
and has low aspirations associated with it. He suggested
the following ways to bring about a change: Use of local opinion leaders and influencers
Spending time on counselling it is time well spent
Skill mapping and profiling
Availability of finance
Campaign to make vocational training aspirational
Let there be a national campaign to make skills
aspirational, he said, adding that events like WorldSkills
S Ramadorai, Adviser, PM National Skills Development Council
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Competition, which NSDC is coordinating this time, and
a Business Plan Competition focused on skill develop-
ment, would go a long way in attracting the youth.
At the same time he said higher salaries for trained
resources, and soft skills training as part of training
modules, would also add to the glamour quotient of
vocational fields.
Rt Hon David Blunkett, Member of Parliament, UK,
gave a new mantra to the gathering when he said that
the keywords in skilling should be delivery, delivery,
delivery. He warned India of repeating the mistake
that UK did in its skills development programme and
said that the UK ended up not skilling or reskilling butaccrediting what people already did. The real ambition
was not to accredit but to transform people with no
skills to highly-skilled, or those with basic skills to even
highly-educated.
Thomas Matussek, Ambassador of Germany to India,
linked the recent unrest in England to lack of prospects
for future, and said skills development provided hope
and social stability to countries.
In his valedictory address, Narendra Jadhav, Member,
Planning Commission, said the summit had taken place
at a very correct point of time as the approach paper to
12th Five Year Plan was being finalised and welcomed
the industry leaders present there to come forward with
suggestions. He said that while there will be fiscal con-
straint in the 12th Plan, education and skills, health and
infrastructure will be three priority areas and will get
high budgetary support at the cost of other areas. At thesame time he urged the industry leaders present there
not to miss an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime,
or else we will not have so many hands to work with, as
we will have mouths to feed.
Left: Rt Hon David Blunkett, Member of Parliament, UK; Right: Thomas Matussek, Ambassador of Germany to India
Best Skill Provider - Government Funded
Winner Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC)
Runner Up Kushal (CREDAI-PUNE NSDC Initiative)
Best Skill Provider - Bottom of the Pyramid
Winner ILF&S
Runner Up BASIX Academy for Building Lifelong Employability Limited
Best Skill Provider - Private
Winner NIIT Foundation
Runner Up Mannat Foundation Trust
Best UK India Partnership
Winner IndiaCan Education Private Limited
Runner Up IndiaSkills
AWARDS
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THE question of how to do it was amply
demonstrated in the case studies presented in the
summit, and in the exhibition held alongside.
Festo Didactic: Volker Schmid, Head of Business
Development, Asia/Pacific, made the presentation. Festo
is a leading provider of automation components, with di-
rect presence in 58 countries and representatives in fur-
ther 170 countries. The company has 14,800 employees.
Its learning arm Festo Didactic is seminar provider for
more than 35,000 participants per year, and provides in-
house solutions to companies. It is also the main sponsor
for mechatronics competition in WorldSkills. The com-
pany also has presence in India since 1963 Festo India.
The company is headquartered in Bangalore and has
seven own training centres. Its latest step in India is an
industrial training institute for Shalimar group.
While describing the how to of training, Schmid laid
emphasis on:
Layout: A training centre doesnt have to be dark.
Give it an image makeover so that the youth areproud to work in the shopfloor.
Broader area: By training in niche areas you close
opportunities. There has to be cross-sectional
training. Take care of cross-sectional needs.
Short-term: Dont go for long-term programmes in
the beginning. Start with short-term programmes to
gain confidence of the industry
Curricula: It cant be static and has to constant-
ly evolve. Dont go for static curricula, which is
difficult to change. Also, offer courses only after
understanding needs and requirements.
He concluded that confidence of the industry should
be benchmark of any training programme.
Vox centres: The presentation was made by Roy New-
ey, Group Board Director, A4e, which is running the
Vox centres. Vox means giving people voice. The Vox
centres in the UK tackle the problem of dropouts and
students above 12 years of age, who are misbehaving,
take drugs and are prone to other anti-social tenden-
cies. Vox has set up centres for these youth at the risk
of exclusion from education. Vox moves into a school
and sets up 3-4 classes in various vocational streams, say
hair-dressing, catering, hospitality, construction. Errant
students are given the incentive of finishing school work,
upon which they will be given the chance to attend the
vocational classes a few hours per week. So an element
of discipline is brought in in the school. Further, the
vocational training providers expect adult behaviour
from these students, and the experience is that youngpeople have responded positively. It brings out the best
in the youth, says Newey, who gives an example of a
young girl prone to drugs who is now enjoying her work
as a hair dresser.
Citing the success rate, Newey points that there is
92 per cent student retention; 72 per cent students are
getting at least one level qualification and 75 per cent
are showing progression in training, education or
Left: Volker Schmid of Festo Didactic; Right: Roy Newey, Group Board Director, A4e
Execution on ground
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employment. A4e is in talks with the MHRD to start
similar centres in India, Newey informsSkills Ahead.
Bradford College, UK: A team from Bradford College,
UK, made a presentation their training model. Talk-
ing to Skills Ahead, Ronnie Todd, Project Manager, de-
scribed how they are developing faculty infrastructure.
The college has 23,000 students and also trains 1,000
teachers per year at primary and secondary levels. The
college imparts training in practically all trades, and for
these trades, they invite industry practitioners, impart
them skills to become teachers and employ them fulltime. The college keeps sending them back to industry
for knowledge upgradation, through its 30-day profes-
sional development programme. Functional skills like nu-
meracy and enterprise are essential components of each
trade. Todd gives the example of course in photography,
wherein a student is taught not just how to take a great
picture but to convince the client why he should buy
that photograph. Todd informs that 99 per cent students
passing out of these programmes are either
self-employed or have the capacity to be self-employed.
Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu: Representatives
from several Indian states showcased their success sto-ries. CV Som, Commissioner of Schools and Chief Ex-
ecutive Officer, Gujarat Knowledge Society, giving Tata
Nanos example, described how the company had recruit-
ed thousands of people for its project, and also trained
them. Going further, he described how the involvement
of industry in individual ITIs had turned these institutions
around. Thus L&T has trained 20,000 youth in construc-
tion trades like bar bending and masonry because it
requires a large manpower base. Similarly Toyota provides
Toyota certification to the candidates it trains. Describing
the Gujarat Knowledge Society, he informed that it runs
300 skill development courses, and the idea is to utilise
the infrastructure of schools, colleges, ITIs, polytechnics
and other institutes whenever these are free.
From Tamil Nadu, M Sakrapani, State Livelihood
Specialist, described Pudhu Vazhu Project, which has
enabled VII class pass candidates to earn `20,000 per
month. The project is participatory in nature, wherein
communities themselves identify the poorest of the poor
candidates to be trained. Training is done by the indus-
try. The project has involvement of companies like Nokia,
Samsung, HCL, St Gobain etc. 1.5 lakh people have al-
ready undergone training. Their earnings mean that `635
million is going to the villages, as earnings of the youth.
AK Sacheti, Project adviser, Rajasthan Mission on Skills
and Livelihood (RMoL), described that for this much pop-ular project, they had received about 2,000 applications
from ITCs, NGOs, professional institutes and corporates,
and only 63 were given approval, such was the strict cri-
teria adopted. And now there are only 19 providers in
the project. ICRA had been invited to identify the areas
where training will be required. And so, based upon its
findings, starting with initial 32 courses RMoL is now
running 192 courses, of 40 to 90 day duration. There is
a provision of tool kit, soft skills training and EDP as part
of the programme. As of now, 72,117 youth in the age
group of 16 to 35 have been trained in varied sectors like
food processing, mining, oil and gas.
Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC): This
organisation, under the aegis of Apparel Export Promo-
tion Council, got the award for Best Skill Provider Gov-
ernment Aided category, in the Global Summit. Talking
toSkills Ahead, Col (Retd) DP Dimri, National Coordina-
tor of SMART training project of ATDC, described both
the long-term and short-term programmes that they are
running to train manpower for the apparel sector.
Ronnie Todd (right) of Bradford College with Kathryn Oldale,
Vice Principal, Curriculum and Quality, Bradford
Re
ports
rele
ased
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GERMANYS International Marketing of Vocational
Education (iMOVE) was the Institutional partner at the
event and was a major presence at the summit. iM-
OVE is an initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education
and Research and promotes international cooperation through
collaborations in education and skills development. In the
summit it shared its expertise on German skills setup and
structuring of Sector Skills Council.
A day before the summit iMOVE and FICCI jointly
organised a special India-Germany workshop on German
Vocational Education & Training in Specific Sectors Les-
sons for the Formation of Sector Skills Councils in India.
iMOVE has set up its office in India and will be proactively
fostering engagements in the field of technical education.
Earlier this year, it signed an MoU with NSDC for
transfer of know-how in this domain and to promote private sector
initiatives in India by bringing the stakeholders of the two
countries together.
Ulrich Meinecke, Counsellor, Social and Labour Affairs,
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, informed Skills
Ahead that iMove, as part of an MoU with FICCI, will also
support it in the Sector Skills Councils that the industry body
is working on. At the same time, it is also working with IL&FS
in curriculum development and training of trainers in about
100 multi-skilled training institutes in Delhi-Mumbai corridor.
Similarly, the Festo Didactic-Shalimar project, which will come
to fruition around January, has also been enabled by iMOVE.
iMOVE moves to India
The long-term programmes, of more than six-month
duration, are now run under IGNOUs community col-
lege scheme, leading to an associate degree. The sec-
ond, shorter route is Skills for Manufacturing Apparels
through Research and Training (SMART) courses, target-ing 1.72 lakh BPL youth in the next five years. Since ATDC
comes under Apparel Export Promotion Council, under-
standing market demands, making changes in training
accordingly, and providing experienced trainers comes
easily to the institute. Across the country, in all locations,
the course content is streamlined and standardised.
There is a quality control team to control training quality
in all locations. The fact that there are no franchisees and
all the centres are own, also helps control quality. Col
Dimri tells that ATDC has 72 per cent placement record,
the remaining actually opting to become self-employed.
e-Jeevika: Richa Panday Mishra, Founder and CEO ofe-Jeevika, described her organisations philosophy and
work to Skills Ahead. e-Jeevika was an exhibitor at the
event. Its an IIT-incubated initiative and has presence in
Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, MP, UP, Punjab, Assam and Andhra.
Mishra says that when the target of 500 million Indians
to be trained is raised, the question that arises is, who
are they, where are they and what are their aspirations.
e-Jeevikas role is to locate those potential trainees, do
their competency mapping and provide these traineesto training providers. They go to rural areas, source the
human resources and connect youth to stakeholders like
training providers or employers. The work doesnt stop
at connecting the two ends. E-Jeevika also identifies their
skill gaps and suggests career paths, because, as Mishra
says, you cant force someone to take up a career against
his aptitude and inclination, NREGA having ensured at
least basic livelihood.
Richa Panday Mishra of e-Jeevika
Ulrich Meinecke from the German Embassy
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1. RCM Reddy, Chairman, FICCI SkillsDevelopment Forum, sets the agenda for theconference
2. Narendra Jadhav, Member, Planning Com-mission, discussed the 12th Five Year Plan
3. Dilip Chenoy, MD and CEO, NSDC, callsfor branding of skills through competitiveevents
4. The audience, in rapt attention
5. Paul Comyn, Senior VT and Skill Develop-ment Specialist, ILO Decent Work Team,
shares ILO perspective
6. A model of Vox centre on display in theexhibition area
7. A visitor in exhibition area, learning bydoing
8. Col Dimri of ATDC and his team receive theaward
9. Winners pose for a photo-op
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