THE UPSKILL TASK

India has made attempts to harness new tools for learning since the age of television. But now, the emergence of blended education and Al-powered models is all set to revolutionise the field. The focus should be on channelising the energies towards two goals at once: ensuring equitable access to foundational education, and creating a vaster knowledge reservoir around our traditional forte of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics from that base

- KAUSHIK DEKA

ABILITY MEETS INDUSTRY

TO MEET THE ENTIRELY NEW SKILL SETS THAT ARE REQUIRED BY INDUSTRIAL SECTORS IN A FLUX, INDIA NEEDS TO RAPIDLY UPSKILL ITS WORKFORCE

With India striving to become the world's third-largest economy, the importance of skilled manpower has grown manifold. Various estimates suggest that investment in upskilling could potentially advance the global economy by $6.5 trillion and India's economy by $570 billion (Rs 46.7 lakh crore) by 2030. That's why skill development is an important component in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of global initiatives launched in 2016 to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure peace and prosperity for all.

WHY IT IS A GAME CHANGER

India has a demographic advantage over 54 per cent of its population is below 25 years of age; 62 per cent is of working age. UN estimates are that, it will add another 183 million people to the latter group by 2050. This makes skilling and re-skilling of the working-age population an urgent imperative. An Accenture report states that India could lose 2.3 per cent of its annual growth by 2028 if skill-building doesn't catch up and keep pace with evolving technology. If India wants to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent and create 100 million jobs, as envisioned by the National Manufacturing Policy, it must create a robust pipeline of skilled workers. Unfortunately, as per the Global Skills Gap Report, the Indian workforce has the highest skills gap after Brazil. A National Skills Development Corporation report reveals that only 2.3 per cent of the Indian workforce has formal vocational skills. A UNICEF study says that, by 2030, over 50 per cent of India's youth will lack the requisite skills for employment.