NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan has suggested that the World Bank should to adopt a pan-India framework for job diagnostics, saying that an in-depth diagnostics on skilling and jobs would enable stakeholders to create new architectures and make progressive policies for empowering the Indian population.
Dharmendra Pradhan, along with Minister of Labour and Employment and Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya, launched a report titled ‘Jobs at Your Doorstep: A Jobs Diagnostics for Young People in Six States’ prepared by World Bank, in New Delhi.
He highlighted the need to broaden the definition of jobs and employment. “The framework has to be broadened and viewed from the perspective of economic opportunities and empowerment,” he said.
India, a global skill hub
Highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to transform India into a global skills hub, he said said the Indian population would be the driver of the global economy. “For this, skilling needs to begin right at schools and NEP-2020 has envisioned mainstreaming skilling in schools,” he said.
Technological disruptions will change the nature of jobs and economic activities and it is needed to continuously upskill and reskill the workforce for future-proofing them. A ‘whole-of-a-government’ approach and working collaboratively to skill, upskill and re-skill our large population is needed to emerge as the skill capital of the world, he explained.
Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, in his address, mentioned that in the last budget, it was proposed to develop a curriculum to harness the potential of region-specific skills and employment, following a hub-and-spoke model. He also stressed on correcting the definition of job beyond employment.
Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Sanjay Kumar noted that the NEP 2020 recommends instilling diligence and consistent practice in students.
‘Jobs at Your Doorstep’ report
As India sets out to achieve big targets, the “Jobs at Your Doorstep” report serves as both a diagnostic and roadmap to providing strategic linkages and convergence between education and the jobs agenda of India. It goes deep into the job landscape of six states— Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan—and identifies key priority sectors and roles that offer the highest employment potential for young people graduating from secondary school.
The World Bank assists the Ministry of Education with its programme called Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) covering six states of Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan (collectively the STARS states).
Skill gap analysis
‘Jobs at Your Doorstep’ is a skill gap analysis that attempts to align trades offered in schools industry-specific needs of the districts where the schools are present. The study was initiated to reimagine the skill education offering through in-depth primary as well as secondary research in six STARS states.