Skill Development and Higher Education in India

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1 Knowledge Partner Skill Development and Higher Education in India

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3 TITLE YEAR February, 2014 AUTHORS Public & Social Policies Management Group (PSPM), YES BANK CONTRIBUTORS National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) COPYRIGHT No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form by photo, photoprint, microfilm or any other means without the written permission of YES BANK Ltd. & ASSOCHAM. DISCLAIMER This report is the publication of YES BANK Limited ( YES BANK ) & ASSOCHAM and so YES BANK & ASSOCHAM has editorial control over the content, including opinions, advice, statements, services, offers etc. that is represented in this report. However, YES BANK & ASSOCHAM will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by the reader's reliance on information obtained through this report. This report may contain third party contents and third-party resources. YES BANK & ASSOCHAM takes no responsibility for third party content, advertisements or third party applications that are printed on or through this report, nor does it take any responsibility for the goods or services provided by its advertisers or for any error, omission, deletion, defect, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, any user communication. Further, YES BANK & ASSOCHAM does not assume any responsibility or liability for any loss or damage, including personal injury or death, resulting from use of this report or from any content for communications or materials available on this report. The contents are provided for your reference only. The reader/ buyer understands that except for the information, products and services clearly identified as being supplied by YES BANK & ASSOCHAM, it does not operate, control or endorse any information, products, or services appearing in the report in any way. All other information, products and services offered through the report are offered by third parties, which are not affiliated in any manner to YES BANK & ASSOCHAM. The reader/ buyer hereby disclaims and waives any right and/ or claim, they may have against YES BANK & ASSOCHAM with respect to third party products and services. All materials provided in the report is provided on As is basis and YES BANK & ASSOCHAM makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title or non infringement. As to documents, content, graphics published in the report, YES BANK & ASSOCHAM makes no representation or warranty that the contents of such documents, articles are free from error or suitable for any purpose; nor that the implementation of such contents will not infringe any third party patents, copyrights, trademarks or other rights. In no event shall YES BANK & ASSOCHAM or its content providers be liable for any damages whatsoever, whether direct, indirect, special, consequential and/or incidental, including without limitation, damages arising from loss of data or information, loss of profits, business interruption, or arising from the access and/or use or inability to access and/or use content and/or any service available in this report, even if YES BANK & ASSOCHAM is advised of the possibility of such loss. Maps depicted in the report are graphical representation for general representation only. CONTACTS YES BANK Ltd. Registered and Head Office th 9 Floor, Nehru Centre, Dr. Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai Tel : Fax : Northern Regional Office 48, Nyaya Marg, Chanakyapuri New Delhi Tel : tushar.pandey@yesbank.in rajiv.anand@yesbank.in Website : The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India D. S. Rawat Secretary General 5, Sardar Patel Marg Chanakyapuri New Delhi Tel : Fax : /9 d.s.rawat@assocham.com Website :

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5 FOREWORD Delivering quality education is critical for holistic development of a Nation and is a key enabler for ensuring inclusive and sustainable development. Expanding access to higher education, skill development and vocational training enhances a Nation's competitiveness in the global economy and propels socio-economic development. India has the world's third largest education system with the education market valued at USD 80 bn. With more than 50% of India's population below the age of 25 years, it is imperative to focus on the youth of the country and provide a suitable impetus to reap the demographic dividend. th The Government has increased allocation for the sector to USD 66 bn in the 12 Five Year Plan and the 'Education for All' program has achieved significant milestones in extending education to even the remotest villages, thereby significantly improving the literacy ratio. Private investment has also seen an upward trend with FDI of USD mn during April 2000 to September 2013, according to the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP). Despite a positive tide being witnessed, the sector faces a greater challenge of providing equal opportunities for higher education and addressing sectoral and social imbalances. To match global excellence standards, it is imperative to provide quality infrastructure and facilities as well as a robust curriculum by increasing investment in R&D and pursuing greater international linkages and collaborations. India's higher education system is large and complex, with 574 universities and almost 36,000 affiliated colleges having an enrolment of over 20 mn students. Despite such large numbers, NASSCOM's report on Education and Employability highlighted low employability of existing talent, with only 10-15% employable graduates in business services and 26% employable engineers in technology services. To bridge these skill gaps and also promote entrepreneurship, academia-industry tie ups need to be strengthened, along with policy reforms to improve faculty training, encourage research and integrate changing global perspectives into academic courses. The academia also needs to transform from pure learning institutions to centers of growth through partnerships with community, industry and economy. I am pleased to present this joint Knowledge Report titled '' by ASSOCHAM and YES BANK, supported by NSDC, that provides a comprehensive framework for higher education and skill development to build a truly world-class education system for India. I am confident that the contents of this knowledge report will provide important insights to policy makers in achieving Economic Security for India. Thank you. Sincerely, Rana Kapoor President, ASSOCHAM Managing Director and CEO

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7 MESSAGE Education is of utmost importance for our youth given the fact that India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan; and, by 2030, India's dependency ratio should be just over 0.4. As the future of the country belongs to our youth, it is imperative that the stakeholders should come together for deliberation on the way forward. Bridging the gap between education and employability through skill development needs strategic and institutional planning. ASSOCHAM is proud to present the National Education Summit and Awards 2014 on the most important subject and hopes that the Conference creates a suitable platform for further deliberation. I am happy to welcome the partners who have joined hands with the Chamber to make this endeavour successful. The Knowledge Report titled partnered by NSDC and YES BANK has attempted to discuss the current scenario in education and skill development in India. ASSOCHAM sincerely hopes that the publication can provide the basis for discussion. Thank you. Sincerely, D.S. Rawat Secretary General

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9 MESSAGE Education, Skills and employability are of paramount importance in today's context. The NationalSkill Development Corporation is addressing the issue of skills through a focused approach in terms of creating capacity and outcome driven workforce development through Sector Skill Councils. Human capital needs in all 20 high growth sectors identified by the planning commission such as automotive, tourism, security, retail, media and entertainment, IT&ITeS, healthcare, constructionare being targeted but the task is challenging and innovative and disruptive solutions are needed. India's demographicsoffera huge opportunity to utilize the potential of Indian youth and the government and the private sector are working in tandem to ensure the same. NSDC is working with the government to address critical ecosystem needs such as the Qualification Framework. The National Skills Qualification Framework which was approved by the Cabinet in December 2013 will allow pathways and equivalence for both academic and vocational streams. NSDC is also working with state governments to introduce vocational education in schools. It is important that corporate houses, private institutes, state governments and non-government organizations join hands to comprehensively address the skill gap issueand create an enabling ecosystem for skill development and employability. NSDC has sector specific skill gap studies as well as disaggregatedreports in form of state skill gap reportswhich is aimed to help all interested to serve this space to understand status and needs across industry and geographies. NSDC is happy to partner ASSOCHAM in its endeavour to provide a discussion platform among stakeholders. Education and skill is not only about numbers but also quality. All education and training initiatives are moving from a knowledge based regime to an outcome based one. The need is for diverse partners to collaborate and strategize on the way forward in education and skill development to create shared value. Several countries have well developed TVET systems and their experience in aligning academics and VET to meet the needs of the labor market is greatly valued. Cooperation with international organizations and effectively adapting and adopting best practices is in India's best interest. I am sure the knowledge publication by YES BANK and ASSOCHAM will provide reference for effective discussions during deliberations. I look forward to the participation of industry leaders in promoting education and skill development more proactively to transform the lives of youth across the country. Regards Dilip Chenoy CEO, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)

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11 CONTENTS 1. Education Scenario in India Education: A Catalyst for Social and Economic Development Access and Equity Quality of Education and Trainers Skill Development Enhancing Employment Potential Framework for Skill Development Delivering Education Right to Education Distant Learning Paving way for E-Learning / Cloud University International Engagements in Education and Skills Reforms in Higher Education Financing Infrastructure Academic Restructuring Governance and Regulatory Reforms Conclusion: Education Catalyzing Equitable Growth 33

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13 1 Education Scenario in India

14 Chapter 1 Education Scenario in India The importance of education in stimulating social and economic development has always been central to Government interests. Education positively influences various facets of growth and development such as poverty reduction, health, gender equality among others. The Government has made significant progress with respect to primary education attendance rates and literacy penetration has increased to nearly one third of the entire population in India. In 2012, 96.5% of all rural children aged 6-14 and 83% of all rural children aged were enrolled in school. As per current estimates, nearly 80% of all 1 schools in India are Government schools. In cities, more than 50% of the children were enrolled in private schools whereas the share of rural children enrolled in private schools was nearly 20% in As per the 2011 census, there is still a vast disparity between States in terms of their literacy rates. Kerala had a literacy rate of 93.9%, while the literacy rate of Bihar stood at 63.8% in Figure 1: Structure of Education and Skill Development in India Ministry of Human Resource Development Education Ministry of Labour and Employment, and other ministries agencies of Government of India Skill Development Vocational Training Primary Education Secondary Education Higher Secondary Education Higher Education ITI/ITCs Other Vocational Training Modular/Short-term State Government and their agencies Source: Human Resource and Skill Development in the Education and Skill Development Services Sector, NSDC 1 Annual Status of Education Report

15 1.1 Education: A Catalyst for Social and Economic Development Education is a key enabler towards driving the agenda of inclusive and sustainable development. Stepping forward and expanding access to higher education and vocational training can enhance India's competitiveness in the global economy, thereby reinforcing the social and economic development of the country. Even if we look at the business aspect of education, the Indian market stands at USD 80 billion, and is the third largest education system in the world. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act was enforced in April This had farfetched implications on the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme, one of the largest programmes in the world launched with the aim of universalization of elementary education in India. Figure 2: Elementary Education (Class I VIII) Statistical Overview Year Enrollment (in lakh) Gross Enrollment Ratio (in %) Drop Out Rate (in %) Source: Annual Report, , Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India Indian higher education system is a large and complex system with 574 universities and more than 35,539 affiliated colleges enrolling more than 2 crore students. Figure 3: Higher Education System - Statistical Overview Year Universities Colleges AICTE approved Technical Institutions Distance Teaching Universities /Institutions Enrollment in the Universities and Colleges (in lakh) Enrollment in Open Distance Learning (ODL) System (in lakh) Enrollment in Post School Diploma/PG Diploma (in lakh) Intake in AICTE approved Technical Programmes (in lakh) Source: Annual Report, , Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India 03

16 Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) measuring access to higher 2 education for the year is at 18.8%. th The Planning Commission (12 plan) aims at raising the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education to 20% by 2017 and 25% by The XII Plans aims an additional enrollment of 10 million in higher education equivalent to 3 million additional seats for each age cohort entering the higher system. Figure 4: Gross enrollment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education Source: Annual Report, , Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India The figure below gives an intercountry analysis of the Gross Enrollment Ratio. Strikingly, India's GER not only lags behind developed countries such as US, Japan and Australia but also developing countries such as China, Brazil, and Malaysia Figure 5: Country-wise GER and GDP per capita comparison Republic of Korea USA Developed nations 80 Russia Spain Australia Denmark GER, Philippines Brazil China Indonesia India Malaysia UK France Saudi Arabia Developing nations Sweden Japan Switzerland 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 GDP per capita (Current USD), 2010 Source: EandY Report Higher Education in India: Twelfth Five Year Plan ( ) and beyond 2 GER measures the access level by taking the ratio of persons in all age group enrolled in various programmes to total population in age group of 18 to 23 04

17 The higher education system has been witnessing healthy growth over the last decade. Nearly 1,211 new colleges were established during , thus taking the total number of colleges to 33,023 in as against 31,812 colleges in , registering an increase of approximately 4% Despite the increase in the number of higher education centers, it does not imply that the entire population has equitable access to education infrastructure or quality trainers To improve enrollment, entree Source: MHRD / UGC and job worthiness through higher education, India needs to focus on the following: Policy changes in favour of improving the education system in India Adopting innovative techniques for imparting education through e-learning and distant education Addressing the requirement of the less privileged class through proper training and skill development 1.2 Access and Equity In terms of GER, India lags behind as compared to other countries. Within the country there is wide disparity in the GER of higher education across States, gender (17.1 for males and only 12.7 for females), regions - urban and rural areas, and communities (GER for SCs and STs were 11.1 and 10.3, respectively). Figure 6: Number of Colleges and Universities No. of Colleges Dec, 2011 Years No. of Universities No. of Colleges Figure 7: Enrollment of students in higher education institutes Russian Federation OECD Brazil China Indonesia India Source: Annual Report, , Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India No. of Universities 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0 05

18 State Distribution As far as the number of universities and affiliated colleges are concerned, there is an uneven distribution of universities amongst States with Tamil Nadu (2,234), Uttar Pradesh (3,786), Rajasthan (2,289) Andhra Pradesh (3,777), Maharashtra (4,249), Karnataka (2,907), Gujarat (1,736), have major concentration. Figure 8: State wise Number of Universities / University Level Institutions in the Country (December, 2011) Number Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chattishgarh Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Odissa Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal Chandigarh Puducherry States / UT's Source: UGC, Higher Education at a Glance Despite a considerable rise in higher education, a State wise disparity in the distribution of colleges has been observed. A majority of colleges are situated in southern India which accounts for nearly 33% of all colleges in the country. On the basis of this data, 22% of the colleges are located in the central region, 19% in the western region, 11.5% in the eastern region and 10.5% in the northern region. Figure 9: Regional Distribution of Colleges in India Region Southern Central Western Eastern Northern Percentage of Colleges Population in the age group (in crore) North-East Source: UGC, Higher Education at a Glance 06

19 The table above covers public, aided and private unaided colleges. Evidently a skewed distribution of the number of institutions of higher education in India is observed across all states. Moreover, a skewed growth has also been observed in professional disciplines in comparison to basic sciences, social sciences and humanities. In addition to this disparity, efforts made towards expanding higher education have majorly been concentrated towards the private sector lending to non-affordability of higher education by greater share of the society. This has therefore made higher education an enterprise rather than medium serving long term social and economic good. Figure 10: State wise Number of Colleges * Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chattishgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Odissa Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal A & N Islands Chandigarh Lakshdweep Daman & Diu Delhi D & N haveli Puducherry *Provisional States/UT's Source: UGC, Higher Education at a Glance Skilled workforce provides the backbone for economic development. Ensuring equitable access to higher education is imperative to infuse balanced development across the landscape of the country. Decentralization of universities is important to improve access to education. Development of supporting infrastructure to improve the outreach of quality education should be facilitated through appropriate mapping, policy and budgetary support. 07

20 Infrastructure provisions and supporting infrastructure such as facilities for hostel accommodation, infrastructure to enable learning through ICT etc. provides a conducive environment for promoting higher education and research and development. 1.3 Quality of Education and Trainers India has been moving towards Education for All and has achieved considerable success in extending education to even the remotest villages in the Country. Despite this success, the quality of education still remains a major concern. Some key observations concerning the quality of education in India are: Only 20% of graduates are found employable by the industry and this is more so in professional education like Engineering. Reports and survey indicate that students qualifying from higher education institutes lack skills required by the industry. This is primarily because academia curriculum is mostly not in line with the skill requirements of industries. To bridge skill gaps, academia should tie up with industries to help design curriculums in line with their requirements. India has one of the highest students teacher ratio as indicated in the figure. The ratio stood at 26 which is comparatively high compared to 16 for BRIC and 15.3 for developed economies. National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) had rated 62% of the universities and 90% of the colleges as average (B) or below average (C) It was found that only 25% of the students in grade V were able to solve basic arithmetic calculations and most students were found to be three grades below the level they were actually in. Figure 11: Skill required for trainers In 2010, 46.3% of all 5th grade children couldn t read a 2nd grade level text. This proportion increased to 51.8% in 2011 and 53.2% in A state wise disparity has also been witnessed in terms of the quality of education. The major decline in reading levels was mainly identified in the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and Haryana. 'Soft' Skills Industry Experience 'Hard' teaching skills (Subject Specific) Awareness of 'Principles of Teaching' Aptitude and attitude for training 08

21 Some of the major reasons attributing to the decline in quality of education have been the increasing use of single classrooms for teaching children in more than one grade and decline in attendance rates of teachers and students in rural areas. Evidently greater emphasis is being laid on increasing literacy rates over quality of education. It is essential to ensure the quality of expansion along with increase in th enrollment. The 12 Five Year Plan addresses this problem and focuses on improving the quality of education. Faculty Re-Charge Scheme, aims to strengthen high quality research in science related disciplines and encourage innovative teaching through introduction of new talent across all levels of academic hierarchy. Scheme for Enhancing Faculty Resources of Universities is responsible for tapping intellectual and scholarly resources available outside the university and college mainstream in the public and private sector organizations. Figure 12: Student Teacher Ratio (in %) Figure 13: NAAC Accreditation (in %) India BRIC average Developed economies average Universities Colleges A (A++, A+ and A) B (B++, B+ and B) C (C++, C+ and C) Source: EY Report: Higher Education in India: Twelfth Five Year Plan ( ) and beyond To ensure quality of education in India, the following steps must be adopted - Figure 14: U21 Ranking of Higher Education Systems D i a l o g u e a n d c o o p e r a t i o n o f professionals and experts from outside the university-and-college mainstream. United States Australia UK Ensure interface with Industry by inviting professionals to advice on the courses structures and provide course materials that include with practical experience. China Brazil India Source: EY Report Higher Education in India: Twelfth Five Year Plan ( ) and beyond 09

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23 2 Skill Development

24 Chapter 2 Skill Development Instilling the right skills and knowledge base can form the building blocks of our economy, taking growth to a new high. With 672 million people out of 1.1 billion in the working age group of 15 to 59 years, it is imperative to focus on the youth of the country and provide suitable impetus to reap the demographic dividend. There is a pressing need to address the problems associated with skill development in India, given the trends of the rising youth unemployment in the country. India's demographic asset if equipped with appropriate skills, can effectively contribute to the development of the country. Figure 15: India- State by literacy (in Percentage) (in%) 2011 (in%) Bihar Rajasthan Andhr a Pradesh Utt ar Pradesh Chattishgarh Odissa Meghalaya Haryana West Bengal Uttarakhand Nagaland Sikkim Himachal Pradesh Tripura Kerala Source : Census 2001 and Census Enhancing Employment Potential The higher education system in India is in a transition stage. Various initiatives transformations have taken place and proposed to keep pace with the growing industry demands and global positioning of Indian economy. 12

25 th The 11 Five Year Plan focused on developing a comprehensive National Skill Development Mission, with the establishment of a three-tier institutional structure comprising of Prime Minister's National Council; National Skill Development Mission Coordination Board (NSDCB); National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). The PM's National Council delineates the policy advice and aims to create nearly 50 crore skilled people by 2022 through skill systems that demand a high degree of inclusivity. NSDCB is responsible for coordinating the efforts of Central Ministries/Department of States while NSDC has adopted comprehensive action plans that would encourage the adoption of PPP models of financing skill development. th Higher education reforms under the 11 Five Year Plan saw a nine-fold growth in Government spend on higher education in India, based on recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) report (2009). However, improvements in terms of quality of higher education delivery have been in significant. The issues of skills shortages, and unemployable graduates still prevails at large. As a result of the initiatives, there has been tremendous growth in the number of higher education institutions and enrollment rates. However, the problem of inequitable access to higher education across the Indian geography along with shortage of competent faculty, deficient infrastructure and inadequate research persists. Employability is a very important aspect of the higher education system. The need of the hour is to take serious consideration of the career paths to inculcate the requisite skills such as analytical thinking, communication skills, presentation skills, working in teams and information technology. Various recommendations from the NKC Report also point in the same direction: Lack of command over spoken and written English which is the primary medium of teaching in all higher education courses. Libraries and portals for access to information, books, multi-lingual translations of major works in all spheres The report has recommended to: Set up 50 national universities Increase focus on research across streams and on Math and Science. Develop distance education as a methodology and also create open content for education In the current scenario, employers look at academics not only as achievements, but also for three key types of skills: cognitive, non-cognitive, and technical skills. Cognitive skills include critical thinking and basic functions like literacy and numeracy. Non-cognitive skills 13

26 or behavioural skills include interpersonal communication skills, while technical skills are usually geared towards a specific occupation. While technical and basic cognitive skills are still important in workplaces, transferrable and non-cognitive skills such as communication, problem-solving, punctuality, and flexibility are increasingly important, particularly for the informal economy. Crucial non-cognitive skills are not being acquired by students in the present academic setting. Although the curriculum is getting reviewed to better promote skills such as teamwork and communication, actual teaching and learning have not kept pace. Teachers are often not appropriately trained to impart these new skills, and still take a direct transmission view of teaching, where rote-learning is common and teaching is geared only towards the national examinations, which are themselves mainly geared towards selection for further admissions. Qualitative capacity building being need of the hour, enrollment ratios also need to increase manifold to match international standards. The pedagogy, regulations, evaluation criteria, curricula and infrastructure needs to be revamped. The focus needs to shift to innovative curriculum that trains the students not just to deal with a technical situation but also to inculcate behavioral traits that enable them to become a better contributor to the industry. Degree courses account for bulk of the enrollment over diploma courses Enrollment in Degree Courses - Undergraduate Degree million Postgraduate Degree 2.2 million PhD Degree 0.1 million Enrollment in Diploma Course 3.3 million Enrollment in professional courses has also increased in the last five years. Professional courses account for significant enrollment, the fee for such courses is significantly higher than general courses (upwards of 10 times), resulting in majority expend towards such courses. To empower the working population, it is essential to restructure academic courses to ensure their relevance in the industry. It is also essential to form effective linkages with employers, external advisory resource support, trainers and courses to encourage innovation and absorption into the work-force. Research to formulate suitable skill development framework should be undertaken to ensure employability of the learners. 14

27 Figure 16: Annual Growth Rate of Enrollment (million) CAG R 5.6% CAGR 20.6% General courses Professional courses Annual growth rate of enrollment (million) *Excludes enrollment 'other'courses Source: EY Report: Higher Education in India: Twelfth Five Year Plan ( ) and beyond Figure 17: Level wise Student Enrollment Level-wise Student Enrollment : University Teaching Department / University College Figure 18: Faculty wise Student Enrollment Faculty -wise student Enrollment : Universities and Colleges: Research 5% Post Graduate 27% Graduate 64% Diploma/ Certification 4% 3% 4% 17% 17% 0%2% 1% 1% Arts 19% 36% Science Commerce/Management Education Engineering/Technology Medicine Agriculture Veterinary Science Law Others Source: EY Report: Higher Education in India: Twelfth Five Year Plan ( ) and beyond Along with reforms in the course structure, it is important to provide necessary supporting infrastructure to ensure efficient delivery of the envisioned education system. 2.2 Framework for Skill Development Education is the key to human resource development and a vehicle for economic growth of a country. But without a support skill for employment or vocational work, the appropriate utility of education cannot be done. Employers are increasingly finding it difficult to find employable youths, even though there are enough educated unemployed 15

28 Currently, there exists a three tier institutional mechanism framework in the country with the Cabinet Committee on Skills at the apex with the National skills Development Agency mandated to oversee and co-ordinate the efforts of various Government initiatives and the National Skill Development Corporation. Figure 19: Skill Development Skill development Optimizing Resources Increasing income Improving employability Increased Productivity Economic Growth Increasing investment Entrepreneurship Involvement of private and setting up of Public Private Partnerships in skill development was aimed to lower the burden on the exchequer and also develop financially viable and self-sustainable models to be taken up for standalone skill development as a focus area for an organization. The NSDC Board till date has approved more than 100 large scale, sustainable, outcome driven projects from various private sector players across all sectors with high projected demand for manpower. As on date more than 2000 NSDC Training Partner centers are available in over 350 districts of the country. The influx of private players into higher education and vocational educational sectors has not just shown that the education industry is financially viable, but has also brought the focus on how high quality and standards which can be maintained without much intervention from various state agencies. Several special initiatives are also being implemented by NSDC such as the STAR scheme which is a monetary reward scheme for youth who successfully complete a standards based training course with third party industry certification. The UDAAN program which is Special Industry initiative for graduates and postgraduate youth of JandK is targeted to train 40,000 in next five years. More than 40 large corporates have taken the lead to train these youth and link them to jobs The Cabinet also approved the National Skills Qualification Framework on December 19, 2013 wherein there would be a 10 level architecture catering both to academic and vocational streams. Since the available career and academic pathways for vocational streams is limited, the importance of this framework cannot be overstated as it will allow every qualification to be mapped to a given level in the framework and will allow equivalence and enable pathways for vertical and horizontal mobility. 16

29 As part of the framework, there is a requirement to understand the skill sets that are required by various industries among their workforce and a setup to follow and create a curriculum that can inculcate the same in the students and existing and future employees of these industries. Also the same needs to be constantly upgraded to meet the changing requirements of the industry with the advent of new technologies. With the involvement of the industry, the process for skill development can take place at an accelerated pace and towards this end Sector Skill Councils which have been set up. As industry led bodies, SSCs are mandated to analyze the job roles in demand sector wise and develop occupation standards and qualification packs for each job role. This creates the base for aligning all curriculum and content to be aligned to defined job roles with uniform standards. This enables a move from knowledge led to an outcome or demand driven skills training regime for the country. Vocational training which was largely Government-led till recently today has several large private sector players who have set up training capacity across the country. The capacity created caters both to fee based employment linked training as well as different State and Central Government skill schemes. Figure 20: Vocational Training Infrastructure in India Type of Source Mainstream education System Training institutions outside the school and university systems Diploma level Institute Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Vocationalisation of Secondary Education run by the Ministry of Human Resource Development Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and Industrial Training Centres(ITCs) Polytechnics Source: Website of Ministry of HRD Ministry of Labour & Employment The Vocational training initiatives cater to a wide variety of job roles across sectors and cater to all segments ranging from school drop outs to graduates. As per the NSDC report on Human Resource and Skill Requirements, the demand for vocationally skilled persons (in addition to Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) /Industrial Training Centres (ITC) qualified persons) is anywhere between 25% and 85% of the workforce depending on the nature of the industry. Vocational training institutes can also enhance the marginalized population's income earning capacity, only if the awareness among the employers can be built up between certified workers and unorganized employment. The need for a standardized certificate is the biggest need of the hour in vocational education 17

30 It is expected that the requirement for such Vocationally Trained human resource (with skills acquired over a short timeframe and are modular/job oriented, over and above that of ITI/ITC) would be over 112 million persons between 2008 and 2022, i.e., over 8 million persons annually. The relative proportion of this requirement is spread across key industries such as textiles, electronics and hardware, organized retail, leather, gems and jewelry, building construction, auto and auto components, furnishing, food processing, chemical and pharmaceuticals, transportation and logistics. This would further fuel the demand for trained teachers/trainers. The Ministry of Labour and Employment and Ministry of HRD play a key role in expanding capacity of institutions (Government and private), polytechnics and community colleges across the country. Modular Employment Scheme (MES) under the DGET provides a wide range of short term courses in the vocational stream. Similarly, the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) and State Council for Vocational Training SCVT course options are also available. The Ministry of HRD is also actively promoting Vocational Education in schools. Pilots have been launched in states like Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in conjunction with select Sector Skill Councils. These courses would be available from Class IX to XII. The coordinated efforts of the Government and private sector to provide training to all segments of society while addressing the underlying need for standards and Quality Assurance and helping build the eco system through a Qualifications Framework, Labour Market Information System etc is expected to go a long way in addressing needs of the economy and larger social issue of empowering youth through skills In light of market demands, the current focus of skill development has shifted to the learner and his/her requirement and expectations from vocational education and training. Evolving a framework for organizing qualification according to series of level of knowledge along with competency based skill framework has been undertaken under the National Vocational Educational Qualification Framework (NVEQF) pilot, which will help link various levels of learning and provide comprehensive information on possible pathways for a leaner to progress in the education system. According to the estimates of MHRD, new entrant to workforce every year is 12.8 million of which existing skill development capacity is only for 3.1 million people. 18

31 3 Delivering Education

32 Chapter 3 Delivering Education In the recent years, emphasis has been laid on widening the reach of educational institutions to the masses. India has made remarkable progress in increasing the attendance and participation rates in primary education and expanding literacy to almost three quarters of the population. Distant learning and e-learning have also considerably contributed towards the number of students enrolled in higher education. Figure 21: Percentage of rural elementary schools (primary and upper primary) with inadequate number of classrooms, (in %) State No classroom Single classroom Less than four classrooms Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat* Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala* Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra* Manipur Meghalaya* Mizoram* Nagaland

33 State No classroom Orissa* 5.64 Punjab 1.54 Rajasthan 2.21 Sikkim 1.19 Tamil Nadu 0.00 Tripura 0.05 Uttar Pradesh 0.92 Uttarakhand 2.24 West Bengal India# 4.31 Source: NUEPA (2010) Elementary Education in India Single classroom Less than four classrooms Right to Education Over the last decade, the Indian education system achieved significant success. India is now one of the few countries in the world to ensure the provision of child centered, child friendly education to help them derive their maximum potential. The Right to Education Act came into effect in April 2010 with the aim to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years as a Fundamental Right. The Act provides for the following: Right of children to free and compulsory education till the completion of elementary school. It makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted in an age appropriate class It mentions duties and responsibilities of appropriate Governments, local authorities and parents in providing free and compulsory education and outlines the share of financial and other responsibilities between the State and Central Governments. It lays down the norms and standards relating inter alia to Pupil Teacher Ratios, infrastructure, school-working days; teacher-working hours. It provides for the appointment of well trained teachers with requisite entry and academic qualifications. It also provides for an all round development approach in building the child's talent, knowledge and potential. 21

34 The Right to Education Act does have ambitious goals, but there are major flaws evident as well. The schedule of the act lays down discriminatory and inferior infrastructural and teacher-associated standards and norms. If we go by the current rate, two-thirds of primary schools will be left without a separate teacher or classroom for each class. Nearly threefourth of the primary schools and more than half of the upper primary schools would not have a headmaster. This would imply that a single teacher would be teaching children in more than one grade simultaneously while managing administrative responsibilities also. This is believed to remain a normal feature in all government schools as long as the RTE Act continues to prevail, due to sheer manpower problem coupled with government's inability to pay. The government therefore needs to ensure greater investment for educational infrastructure and well qualified teachers with requisite skills. Moreover, training local communities to educate rural children can be undertaken to encourage a more inclusive approach towards expanding education. In addition to these flaws, the Act's Section 27 permits the administration to involve the teachers in a number of non-teaching tasks like census, election duties and disaster-related duties. Also, the Act provides for the recruitment of only contract teachers which denies them of dignified salaries and social security. This is expected to have detrimental implications on the quality of education imparted. Moreover, the no-fail policy for students upto class eight further reduces the competitiveness of the students leading to an overall deterioration of quality of education. Government efforts need to be directed towards attracting well qualified teachers and adopting suitable policies that encourage student teacher interaction and also improve the quality and teaching environment. Figure 22: Male Female Gap in Literacy Rates Meghalaya Mizoram Tripura Sikkim Assam Tamil Nadu Arunachal Pradesh Maharashtra Andhra Pradesh INDIA 2011 Male Female Literacy Gap Odissa Ut ar Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Chattishgarh Rajasthan Source :Census 2001 and Census 2011 While the gap between men and women in access to higher education has been eliminated th in a few states, the 12 Five Year Plan aims to eliminate this gap atleast at the overall level. 3 The GER for males stood at 19.0 and that for females stood at 15.2 in This gap 22

35 between male and female literacy rates has been observed to be lower in urban areas, indicative of the need for the government to adopt geographically targeted efforts towards reducing this disparity in states with greater inequality. 3.2 Distant Learning Over the last three decades, enrollment in distance education has grown at a rate of 11% with 4.2 million students. Distance education offers vast opportunities for Indian students to gain first-hand knowledge of global developments, trends and techniques without physically living in countries abroad. It also opens avenues for employment and international careers thereby fostering globalization of economies and labour forces. Some of the key challenges faced by the Distance Learning process include: High drop-out ratio Low engagement between students and the university / college conducting distance education Focus more on theory with practical learning getting diluted owing to lack of touch Figure 23: Growth in Distance learning CAG R 10.9% % 16.6% 25.7% Indira Gandhi National Open University (1) State Open Universities (13) Other DEIs (183*) Student enrollment in distance education (million) Distance education enrollment by institution ( ) *These DEIs include more than 40 private institutions Source: Higher Education in India: Twelfth Five Year Plan ( ) and Beyond, EY The Distance Education Council was established under the IGNOU Act, 1985 with the purpose of coordinating the maintenance of standards in the Open and Distance Learning System. In line with its objectives, DEC launched many initiatives for determining the standards in the system while providing financial, academic and technical assistance to 13 State Open Universities and over 200 Directorates linked with conventional universities and Private/Autonomous Institutes referred to as Distance Education Institutions. The DEC is responsible for taking all necessary steps for promoting Open University/Distance Education Systems, its development and standard determination

36 DEC also aims to establish a network of open universities/distance education institutions to identify priority areas in which distance education programmes should be organized and provide the requisite support for their organization. Currently, the lack of adequate human, technical and infrastructural resources and the surge in the number Open and Distance Learning institutions has made DEC incapable of matching the rising demand for efficient and effective regulation. Emphasis should be laid on suggesting measures for regulating the standards of education imparted through distance mode. 3.3 Paving way for E-Learning / Cloud University The future trends of internet and multimedia will influence and change the traditional methods of teaching and learning, and enlarge the sphere of dissemination of knowledge. The implementa of computer technology in education and training has enhanced the quality of education in various organizations and training institutes. Educators strongly feel that ICT is the most valuable tool to overcome the problem of illiteracy. Academics are now being challenged by the rapidly growing technologies of multimedia, internet and other virtual computer technologies, which demand changes in the styles, attitudes and skills towards information handling. E-Learning has been doing its rounds for more than a couple of decades now; new technologies have also created various enhanced opportunity in virtual learning. Khan Academy, Coursera and many other such open source content have provided top quality content access to every student. Various activities like FLIP Class Rooms and Cloud Universities have started entering the market. Key Observations in this field are: a. Huge online and digital content are available for access across the spectrum of learning levels (from elementary schools to high end technology) b. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) have come to stay with increasing popularity albeit among self-motivated students c. Adoption to technology is high among the young population in general and Indian children in specific d. Technology infrastructure required for accessing these content is becoming more easily available In light of the above, e-learning and cloud university has an opportunity to become integral in making educational resources available through network arrangements between different institutions across the length and breadth of the country and improving the reach of quality education to many more beyond physical boundaries of universities. 24