AGAINST ALL ODDS

- By Vartika Bhatewara

This is the story of Indrala Devi. She comes from a small village where she used to live with her family of seven. Their main source of income was farming. Indrala used to love going to school and was a reasonably bright student. Although they lived in poverty, she was happy to be with her family and to be able to study. However, Indrala’s life took a turn for the worse when her father passed away suddenly. Her brother took control of their land and decided to leave the family to fend for themselves. When their only source of income was taken away from them, Indrala’s mother had to find work to feed her family. She asked Indrala to stay at home in order to take care of her siblings so that she could earn a salary of Rs.1500 a month. But Indrala was very keen on studying and she managed to convince her mother to let her continue her education. Indrala had to cycle for 25 kms everyday in order to reach her school but she didn’t let that deter her. However, her luck ran out after her 10^th standard exams. She was forced to find work in order to sustain her family.

It was at this time that a mobiliser from Pratham reached her village to generate awareness about various vocational training options available to youth. Indrala got interested in the hospitality program. However, the odds were against Indrala once again as the hospitality centre was 500 kms away from her village and no girl had ever left the village without getting married. In addition to this, the course was not free. But life had taught Indrala a lesson that we all learn only in schools; where there is a will, there is a way. She learnt about Pratham’s education loans and convinced her mother to let her go and give her a decent shot at earning a sustainable livelihood.

The story of her courage doesn’t end here. Indrala had decided to work in the field of hospitality but she had never even heard of shampoos or the other basics of grooming. In spite of all the disadvantages that she brought with herself, she amazed her teachers by her sheer hard work. At the end of three months she got placed at a five star hotel for which she had to travel even farther away from her village, but unsurprisingly this did not deter her either. Beating all odds, Indrala Devi has today paid off all her loan installments and can proudly say that her family income has increased to Rs.6000 a month. Although this number doesn’t amount to a lot, Indrala Devi lives with the knowledge and belief that her life will only get better from here. 

The push and pull of skilling

- Dr Madhav Chavan

Vocational training has been centre-stage in policy discussions in India over the past decade. This column discusses the perspectives of and dissatisfaction among the four groups of stakeholders in skill training – government, industry, trainers and potential trainees. It highlights the need for a strong “pull” or demand for training and suggests innovative ways to achieve this.

The issue of vocational training has gained importance over the last eight odd years after the UPA government took charge in 2004. There are four corners of vocational training - government, industry-business, trainers or institutions of training, and the prospective trainees. You could divide this further with government and the trainers on the supply side and the industry-business and the trainee on the demand side. Just a decade ago, this was a triangle with the supply side making up one corner. All vocational training was funded and delivered by government institutions. While the government institutions are still running, the private trainers have entered the scene. 

The supply side 
Although much has been said about how to make this quadrilateral work, it appears that there is a lot of dissatisfaction in all four corners. A simple web search is enough to know who is saying what. The fact is that while there is talk about a need to train 500 million or some such number of young people and to place them in jobs by 2022, the governmental plan is lagging behind. The loudest noise is probably coming from the trainers’ corner which is finding out that while skilling is considered desirable, neither the industry nor the potential employee is really willing to spend money or time on investing in such skills. Government financing seems to have its usual problems; some obvious and others rumoured. The government corner is not yet saying that things are not working. At such times people usually say that things may take time and there is optimism. 

The demand side 
Strangely, there seems to be no noise from either the business corner, or the potential trainee – the jobseeker corner. Industries whose business depends upon highly skilled people are setting up their own training programs and institutions for selected employees who have already spent 16 odd years in schooling. But the unorganised and informal sector and the industries that rely on contracted labour for relatively low skill jobs are hiring people informally or through contract systems and training them on the job. Although they murmur that they don’t get skilled people, there does not seem to be a real worry that their businesses will hurt for lack of skilled workers. On the contrary, it appears that their businesses will stall if they wait for the youth to be trained and skilled. There is no existing model of skilling that inspires confidence that skilled workers will be available on a very large scale in a short time span except if a sophisticated labour contractor with a pipeline of contracts takes in unskilled people, trains them and provides jobs. It is not enough to be a trainer - you need to have the ability to place people in jobs, which is not easy to do. 

The fourth corner - the unskilled youth, whether more schooled or less, has its own issues, aspirations, and conditions, as more and more trainers are finding out. Urban youth it seems may have poor skills but they also have high aspirations after having spent more than 10 years in the schooling process. They are not willing to attend a skilling course unless a job with the salary and working conditions they aspire for is guaranteed. Those whose lives depend upon finding a job are going out and getting one, unless they have problems with migration. Young women are the biggest losers. Typically a labour contractor gathers young men, perhaps even readies them for work, and employs them. Others who have connections in the city through an uncle or a group of their biradari¹ migrate to the city, find work, and enter the unorganised labour market. They learn on the job, acquire skills as apprentices either at their village or at an urban workplace, and struggle to survive. These folk have no time to go for skilling courses. 

Informal skilling on the job works, at least for now until we figure out what kind of institutions and processes will work in our country. 

Creating a strong “pull” 
How are these different corners going to work together? The government and the eager trainers represent the push factor which is trying to create processes and institutions for training, without a strong pull factor. 

It is my considered opinion that the game-plan has to change completely based on creating a strong pull. I would put in place three strategic objectives. First, create an environment that places all skills high up there with knowledge or even higher; not in a patronising manner but in a real way. Media campaigns and programmes highlighting skilled work is one way of doing it. The other day, I met a fashion designer who spoke extremely warmly and highly of her 7th Standard passed “cutter” as an integral and crucial part of her creative team. He is not just an employee. We must find such genuine people and promote them. 

Second, start a registry of skilled people that is available online and make certification of existing skills free, simple, and easy to start with. Let us call it SAdhaar² - the skills identity in the labour market. The standards can be raised in a stepwise manner over a period of time. The process can go from self-declaration to references to assessment of skills. Schools can become skills registration centres over weekends. Simultaneously, employers should be persuaded, or even arm-twisted to put online the ratios of certified skilled people they have in their workforce versus the uncertified. 

Third, promote skills upgradation programs for all working people – permanently employed, contract workers, or self-employed regardless of whether they are in unskilled or semi-skilled jobs, and provide them part subsidies and simple no-interest loans that they can repay over a period of time. No free training. Again, have employers of all sizes declare numbers of their employees who have gone through skill up-gradation courses. 

I believe these, and such other initiatives, will form the pull for a larger skilling program not only for those already working, but also those who will enter the workforce. 

Simultaneously, and perhaps most importantly, it is essential to include in the school syllabus elements that familiarise children with work life and ready them for it without giving a full vocational course. For example, we need to stress communication, of which language is a part. While mastery over English may be needed for higher academic studies, it is more important to be able to handle ‘technical’ workplace vocabulary in “Hinglish” for most workers. They could, of course, join higher level English learning programs in due course. I believe teaching Chemistry is important but so is teaching safety with chemicals. Teaching electricity is important but so is the understanding of electrical equipment around the house and in the community. Learning math is important, but so is financial literacy. It is important to know parts of the body, but learning how to check pulse and tie bandages can be both useful and fun exercises. In practically every subject it is possible to create introduction to vocational and workplace skills. And the good part is that there are enough ‘resource persons’ in every community who can help children learn these aspects. In fact, it should be possible for children to take low-stake tests to get certified in each individual skill or knowledge domain. Professional bodies will willingly do this if they are funded. 

Building new sustainable institutions and processes 
It is now well understood that a product of even 10 years of schooling on an average is not only un-employable but also un-trainable. Those businesses that are serious about a skilled labour force say that they do not need a person specifically trained in their trade. All they need is a person who is “trainable”. They can train the person on the job if he or she is willing. Lack of soft skills, poor reading and comprehension skills, no understanding of measurement and basic quantitative work are major weaknesses of most children reaching Standard 8 or 10, as well as of dropouts – a major proportion of the Indian population. These skills are not difficult to teach if the students are eager and trainers accountable. We need a massive “bridging” program for the push-outs of school systems to make them “trainable”. 

If we raise the standards of outcomes of our schooling process while also creating a larger environment favouring skilling, certification of skilling, and job incentives for skills, we will have created a wide base for skilling our population with a strong pull. It is on this base that we can build new sustainable institutions and processes for technical and vocational training. 

Notes : 

1. Hindi word for community
2. 12 digit individual identification number issued by the UIDAI on behalf of the Government of India which serves as a proof of identity and residence through India

The article has been published : http://www.ideasforindia.in/article.aspx?article_id=123

INDIA SHINING OR FLICKERING? Future of India’s Future

-By Vartika Bhatewara

It has been projected that by the year 2020, 62% of India’s population will be between the age group of 15 and 59 years. This is what is known as India’s demographic dividend. This means that while the average age of citizens in other countries is on the rise, a majority of India’s population will be in the employable age group. The question that arises here and one that has been on the minds of many Indians is; does the demographic dividend contain in it a ticking time bomb or will we be able to use this as an opportunity to realize our dream of India Shining?

There has been a lot of talk about the opportunity divide in India. This Opportunity Divide is that by the year 2022, 800 million people will be in the working age group but out of these only 200 million will be graduates while the remaining will be in the unskilled group. According to research done by NSDC, between the year 2008 and 2022, 347 million jobs will be created across 22 different high growth sectors in India. For example, the jobs available in the construction industry will be about 33 million, in the auto industry about 35 million, in infrastructure 103 million and in retail about 14 million jobs will be available.

The interesting fact here is that India will have both the jobs as well as a matching demographic of population that will have the potential to carry out these jobs. The question is will we be able to train so many people? The Indian government has set a target of training 500 million people by the year 2022, but is this target achievable?

The target definitely is a daunting number. As an Indian I do hope that this dream is realized and am proud to be working for an organization that has done some exemplary work in this field. Pratham Institute has trained over 70,000 people through its various vocational training programs and is in the process of training more. I hope that people who come across this blog also find a way to contribute towards India’s future. Maybe then we’ll have the answer to the question raised by the title of this blog.

Youth Employment: Aspirational Mismatch

- Richa Subedi is Head of Placements at Pratham Institute

Hope, Enthusiasm, Dreams, Energy are words that come to our minds when we think about youth. Working for the employment exchange program for Pratham Institute, I came across countless youth, who showed these attributes in abundance. Typically most are in the transition from a carefree student to a professional. A majority of the youth, that we cater to in the 18-30 age group, are school / college drop-outs and are unemployed / underemployed. The interesting part is that they are still to experience the realities of the world and yet many of them seem to have their own set of notions about professional life.

Meanwhile when we look at the other side of the coin, the industries or the employers, we can visibly say that the liberalization of 1990s opened the floodgates for extensive corporate expansions especially in the service industry. This paved the way for many opportunities and choices for youth with basic training /education to take up employment at entry level positions. The scenario at first glance seemed pretty simple. There were youth who were aspiring to start their careers and employers who could offer them one. However, realization dawned when it was evident that the mismatch lies in the aspirations of the youth vis–à–vis what the employer offers in terms of the profile, location, salary, work timing, etc.

Whether these youth are from rural, semi-urban or urban backgrounds seems to make no difference. Their aspirations boil down to self –sufficiency and further, if possible, extending monetary support to their families. The missing link, however, between aspirations and achievements is the lack of career guidance to these youth. Explaining and understanding the correlation between specific skills, education, and experience to achieve the higher career goals they set for themselves is crucial. There seems to be a clear dilemma among them as to what would be the right start, what are the realistic possibilities available to them and how these opportunities can be used as stepping stones for higher goals.

Although there is an ever increasing demand for talent to fill these positions, employers are not ready to pay these entrants beyond the minimum wage. Most of these jobs are also located in urban areas. Relocation brings with it its own set of challenges and considering our social scenario not everyone can/are allowed to relocate, especially women. Thus, unless there is a revision in their pay scale or their basic needs are met it is difficult to be self sustainable with the wages offered, and this coupled with long working hours does not become a lucrative option. Employers have their own arguments in terms of youth lacking basic skills, the high attrition rate and thus justify that it does not make sense to spend more on them.

The solutions we should thus be looking into are the opportunities that are locally available, bringing industries on the table while designing any vocational training programs, and concentrating our focus on youth career guidance and counseling.

India's Vocational Landscape

With an estimated 500 million skilled workers needed to meet Indian growth demands by 2022, the urgent need for appropriately skilled labour becomes more apparent now than ever before. To address this growing need for skilled labour, the Government has established a National Skills Development Council (NSDC), which works with both Sector Skills Councils as well as NGOs working in the vocational development space, with Pratham being one of its partners.

Though there has been increased focus and growth in the vocational training landscape of India, with various organizations having become involved with this mission of increasing the employability of India’s youth, the key issues faced still remain the same - mobilization of students & recognition by industries of qualifications gained through vocational courses. With many of these youth coming from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, it is often unfeasible for them to afford vocational skilling courses. In addition to this, with a variety of institutions providing vocational training courses, problems of credibility and recognition of the same also arise. Therefore, students are unwilling to spend their limited savings towards courses that may not help them in securing a job. It is therefore important to create standardized content, and subsequently a standardized certification that is recognised by industries, thereby helping youth gain sustainable employment.

The service industry also has a key role to play in achieving this goal. They have to recognise the certified talent available in the market. The students need the assurance that once he or she is trained and certified, they will be absorbed by the industry. The industry therefore needs to create a commonly acceptable certification framework where they incentivise candidates who get recruited through this route. This would motivate students to invest in such skilling and certification programs that would eventually lead to a healthy supply of certified talent for the industry.