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Youth engaged in skills learning: Indian economy's curious paradox

ment was established in 2014 and ambitious targets were lavatories, are in a shambles. The Annual Status of Educa-
set by the Central and state governments, actual results tion Report (ASER) of the independent and globally re-
on the ground remain far from set targets. While Budget spected Pratham Education Foundation highlights that the
2024-25 has announced some significant skills education majority of teenage students of public/government schools
schemes, the government needs to do more to strengthen cannot read class II textbooks in any language or solve basic
implementation of skilling programmes and the skill eco- arithmetic sums. Neither, despite Mahatma Gandhi’s ad-
system in the country,” says Ajay Khanna, chairman of vice, was VET introduced in government schools.
the Committee on Skill Development of PHD Chamber of Resultantly seven decades later, the Indian economy of-
Commerce & Industry (estb.1905), a Delhi-based industry fers a curious paradox. It is saddled with a large and rising
promotion and advocacy organisation. number of unemployed youth and a shortage of sufficiently
Although opposition parties in Parliament especially literate, numerate and skilled employees required by in-
Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Congress party which has dustry. According to TeamLease Services Ltd, the country’s
ruled at the Centre and in most states for over half century, premier white and blue-collar personnel staffing company,
seem oblivious, skills education aka vocational education a mere 4.69 percent of the total workforce (560 million) in
and training (VET) and foundational literacy and prima- India is formally trained. The government’s latest Econom-
ry education, have been foolishly neglected by successive ic Survey 2023-24 estimates that a mere 4.4 percent of the
administrations at the Centre, and the Congress party in workforce countrywide is formally skilled with 16.6 percent
particular. Since India won its freedom from foreign rule skilled informally. More shockingly, this official pre-budget
in 1947, national (Centre plus states) annual expenditure survey acknowledges that 48.75 percent i.e, one of two col-
on education has never exceeded 4 percent of GDP against lege/university graduates is unsuitable for employment in
the global average of 5 percent and 6-10 percent of GDP in government or industry.
developed OECD countries. Against this backdrop, it’s hardly surprising that dis-
Consequently, India’s chronically under-funded 1.20 ruptive automation, machine learning, green energy and
million public/government schools defined by crumbling artificial intelligence are generating panic. Managements
buildings, conspicuous deprivation of labs, libraries and of large and medium-scale enterprises especially IT behe-

AUGUST 2024 EDUCATIONWORLD 49