Skill and Entrepreneurship Development training programs in northern states of India

We would like to share with you that International Organization for Educational Development – IOED in collaboration with Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (RCED), has been conducting skill and entrepreneurship development programs in the northern states of India.

I am giving below a brief introduction about both the organizations to help you understand the nature of work being done by us:

The RCED (a Non-Governmental Organization registered under Society Registration Act XXI of 1860) came into existence during 1995 and is committed to promote skill and entrepreneurship development, in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttrakhand, Rajasthan, Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh. The RCED has expertise in conducting vocational and entrepreneurship development training programs and thereby help the beneficiaries tap suitable self/waged employment opportunities.

The IOED is an International Autonomous Sovereign Body duly registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and other Agencies of the Government of India. It is an International Socio-economic Development Organization aimed at the development through education. It is a Development International Institution (DII) connected with the Sovereign States by the Headquarter Agreements which sought to establish a permanent organization in various countries to continue work on a joint skill development program and in particular to supervise the distribution of aid for social development . The IOED is a worldwide body and fully accredited permanent organization established under a charter and constitutional protocol for education and economic co-operation, functioning in accordance with the United Nations through the United Nations Convention signed in Vienna between the States on April 18, 1961 on Diplomatic and Consular Relations.

Having conducted training programs for over 20 years, we have realized that skill and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. There are a number of trades/roles in which post the skill training is complete there is limited scope of waged employment. The only option available with the trainee is to opt for self employment and set up a venture of his own. As already mentioned above, RCED has expertise in conducting entrepreneurship development programs. Also we provide hand holding support to the trainee for a period of two years from the date of inception of the enterprise.

I am enclosing a document on the need for skill development and a list of trades in which we provide skill development training wherein in there is tremendous scope of entrepreneurship.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT – THE COMPELLING NEED

Skill development is a means to harness the human resource potential of a country by equipping the prospective or the existing members of the workforce with marketable skills through vocational or technical training to meet industry requirements.

The need for skill development in India

• Enhancing Skills to Reap Demographic Dividend - with a young population and government's focus on skills development, India has the potential to become a leader in vocational education!

Skill building can be viewed as an instrument to improve the effectiveness and contribution of labor to the overall production. It is as an important ingredient to push the production possibility frontier outward and to take growth rate of the economy to a higher trajectory. Skill building could also be seen as an instrument to empower the individual and improve his/her social acceptance or value.

The contemporary focus on skill building or skill development in India is derived from the changing demographic profiles in India vis-à-vis China, Western Europe, and North America. These changing demographic profiles indicate that India has a unique 20 to 25 years’ window of opportunity called “demographic dividend”. The demographic dividend is essentially due to two factors (a) declining birth rates and (b) improvement in life expectancy. The declining birth rate changes the age distribution and makes for a smaller proportion of population in the dependent ages and for relatively larger share in the productive labor force. The result is low dependency ratio which can provide comparative cost advantage and competitiveness to the economy. The “demographic dividend” accounts for India having world’s youngest work force with a median age way below that of China and OECD Countries. Alongside this window of opportunity for India, the global economy is expected to witness a skilled man power shortage to the extent of around 56 million by 2020. Thus, the “demographic dividend” in India needs to be exploited not only to expand the production possibility frontier but also to meet the skilled manpower requirements of in India and abroad.

To reap the benefits of “demographic dividend”, the Eleventh Five Year Plan had favored the creation of a comprehensive National Skill Development Mission. As a result, a “Coordinated Action on Skill Development” with three-tier institutional structure consisting of (i) PM’s National Council (ii) National Skill Development Coordination Board (NSDCB), (iii) National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) was created in early 2008. Whereas, Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development has spelt out policy advice, and direction in the form of “Core Principles” and has given a Vision to create 500 million skilled people by 2022 through skill systems (which must have high degree of inclusivity), NSDCB has taken upon itself the task of coordinating the skill development efforts of a large number of Central Ministries/Departments and States. The NSDC has geared itself for preparing comprehensive action plans and activities which would promote PPP models of financing skill development.

• School/College Dropouts:

Imparting skill development training becomes imperative in our country’s scenario where there are a large number of drop outs from schools. Please refer to the data below published by the MoHRD in 2010-11.

• To meet the global demand for skilled manpower by the year 2022

“According to the ILO, there will be a demand for 500 million skilled workers in India by 2022. A wide gap of 496.6 million skilled workers needs to be filled in eight years.” skill development can harness the demographic dividend to bridge the demand and supply of skilled workforce in India.

As Indian employers compete with the best in the world, they will increasingly demand the best-trained personnel. In the medium term, India's surplus labour will coincide with labour shortages in many parts of the world, giving it a chance to provide the 'workforce of the world.' But the country can do this only if its trained personnel meet the quality standards demanded internationally. Thus, acquisition of skills is the future of the Indian job market and its global economic clout. 

The Government’s efforts to promote skill development:

• Policy Push

In the Union Budget 2012-13 the government has doubled its allocation of funds for skills development under the National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) to Rs 1,000 Crore, raising the corpus of the fund to Rs 2,500 Crore.   The launch of the credit guarantee fund and exempting vocational training institutions from service tax are steps taken to help make skills training affordable. 

• Sectoral Focus

The National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) has identified over 21 key sectors (including the unorganized sector) that will be of particular importance. Of these, manufacturing, textile, construction, automotive, retail and healthcare are key. It will also have to ensure that it provides the 'green' skills needed to make the transition to greater sustainability so that India can ensure that it can meet modern economic demands. In the short-term, training skills are most needed so that quality training is available at the scale required to meet the country's ambitions. The NSDC as part of its mandate is also facilitating setting up of sector approaches in the form of 31 Sector Skills Council (SSCs). Ten SSCs in the automotive, retail, security, healthcare, IT/ITES, gems and jewellery verticals, among others, have already been approved. 

 Grass root – Level

Vocational education must begin from the early stages. It must be introduced in schools such that it coheres with academic options rather than competing with them. Learners should be given 'taster' opportunities accompanied by professional career advice and guidance. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is already developing plans along these lines.

• Soft Skills

Learning technical skills is not enough. Soft skills that make people employable are as critical. The apprenticeship model is particularly effective at developing these skills alongside technical skills; but for those on non-apprenticeship courses it is important to understand the attributes that will enable one to get a job and progress faster within the workplace. Vocational education can only have its full economic impact if it produces people with skills that can get them well-paid, fulfilling work as per industry

List of trades in which we impart soft as well as hard skill training:

Agricultural Machinery, Assembling of Inverters, Automobile Body Building, Automobile Electrical Works, Automobile Repairing and Servicing, Ayurvedic cum Massaging Unit, Ayurvedic Hair Oil, Bakery, Bamboo Mat Board, Beaten Rice (Chira), Beauty Saloon, Bio Degradable Sheets Carry Bags, Bio-Diesel from Jatropha, Bleaching Powder, Brick Plant, Business Plan Template, Cane & Bamboo Furniture, Carborated Soft Drink, Cattle and Poultry Feed, Cell Phone Servicing, Citronella Oil, Clay Brick Plant, Coir Spinning Unit, Color Processing Studio, Concrete Products, Cyber Café, Dairy Products, Dal Mung, Bhujia, Kaju Fry, Pop Corn, Muri and Peanut, Decorative Handloom Products, Desk Top Publishing, Diagnostic Centre, Digital Photography, Disposable Plastic Cup, Disposable Plastic Syringes, Diversified Jute Handicrafts Products, Dry Cleaning Unit, Electrical Appliances Repairing, Electrical Panel Board, Electronic Goods, File Cover and File Board, Fire Works Crackers, Floriculture, Fresh Drinking Water, Fuel (Coal) Briquetting, General Engineering Workshop, Gold Plating on Metallic Optical Frame and Jewellery, Hair Oil, Hawai Chappal, Herbal Extraction Plant, Herbs & Aromatic Plants, Hollow Concrete Block, Hosiery Items (Cotton Knitted Garments), Hot Water Bags Ice Bags, Ice Cream Making Unit, ICT Centers, Incense Stick, Jute Bag Making, Jute Sutli, Jute Weaving, Leaf Plate and Bowl, Leather Goods Manufacturing, Mini Dal Mill, Mini Refinery Plant, Mixed Fruit Jam, Jelly, Pickle Making, Mosquito Net, Molded Plastic Products, Muga & Mulberry Silk Weaving, Mushroom Cultivation and Processing, Noodles Making, Ornamental Fish, Papad Making, Parboiled Rice Mill, Pasteurized Milk & Cream Project, Phenyl Making, Plastic Products, Plastic Water Storage Tank, Potato Chips Making, Poultry Farm, Poultry Hatchery Unit, PVC Pipe Manufacturing Unit, Rubber Footwear, Scented Supari Processing, Servicing of Diesel Generator, Shampoo, Spice Grinding & Packaging, Steel Fabrication, Stone Chips, Surgical Bandage, Synthetic Detergent Powder, Tarpaulin, Tea Processing, Terracotta Ware, Tomato Sauce, Two Wheeler Repairing, Tyre Retreading Centre, Utensils Washing Powder, Vehicle Wheel Cap, Washing Soap, Wire Netting, Woven Sacks for Fertilizers and Yarn Dyeing, etc.

 Major General Dr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, IPC

Executive President