Aiming to align supply with demand by bridging existing skill gaps, the Government on Thursday approved the launch of National Skill Development Mission. It will provide an institutional framework at the Centre and States for implementation of skilling activities in the country.The Union Cabinet had in fact approved the skill development programme on Wednesday itself, hours before the NDA Government announced its ambitious Digital India initiative.
Giving details of the skill development mission, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told media persons that it is an integrated national policy for developing skills and promoting entrepreneurship at a large scale with speed and quality.“The policy aims to align supply with demand, bridging existing skill gaps, promoting industry engagement, operationalise a quality assurance framework, leveraging technology and promoting apprenticeship to tackle the identified issues,” Jaitley said during the media briefing.
The Mission will have a three-tiered, high powered decision making structure. At its apex, the Mission’s Governing Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, will provide overall guidance and policy direction.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, an official statement said. 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, it added.
The Mission will also run 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) provides a natural home for the Mission, organically linking all three decision-making levels and facilitating linkages to all Central Ministries/Departments and StatIndia continues to face a skilling challenge of vast proportions.
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. e Governments.Further to this, the Government has also approved common norms for Skill Development Schemes being implemented by the Centre as well as an institutional framework for the National Skill Development Mission.
The National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 acknowledges the need for an effective roadmap for promotion of entrepreneurship as the key to a successful skills strategy, the statement said.The vision of the policy is to create an ecosystem of empowerment by skilling on a large scale at speed with high standards and to promote a culture of innovation-based entrepreneurship which can generate wealth and employment so as to ensure sustainable livelihoods for all citizens.
The policy has four thrust areas, the official statement said, adding that 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.
Further, it said 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.
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.Since the common norms are aimed at being outcome focused, the cost norms and fund flow mechanism for skill development programmes have also been linked to specific outcomes achieved.
The statement said the cost norms include support for components like mobilisation of candidates, trainers’ training, placement expenses, post-placement tracking/ monitoring and infrastructure costs.The proposal envisages the creation of a Common Norms Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to bring about uniformity and standardisation among the skill development schemes of the Central Government.