-The Indian Express While the NSO’s Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18 had estimated female labour force participation rate for 15 years and above at 23.3 per cent, the comparative numbers of other countries highlight the labour market’s gender skew. Just one out of five persons — in the 15-30 years age bracket — entering the labour force is expected to be a female in the five years ending 2023, when...

-The Hindu Skill India needs a sharp realignment if it is to meaningfully transform people’s life chances In 2013, India’s skill agenda got a push when the government introduced the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF). This organises all qualifications according to a series of levels of knowledge, skills and aptitude, just like classes in general academic education. For instance, level 1 corresponds to Class 9 (because vocational education is only supposed to...

-TheWire.in The exits of COO Jayant Krishna and CPO Vishal Sharma come as 'Skill India' has to reckon with the fact that its targets were over-ambitious and its implementation not solid enough. New Delhi: Two senior executives of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) have left the organisation, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter, in a development that comes even as India struggles with its mission to skill...

-The Hindu There needs to be a road map to rescue private Industrial Training Institutes from their weak state Small shops, basements, tin sheds and godowns. These are not random workplaces but places where private Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) are running in the country. Disturbing facts such as these come from the report of the Standing Committee on Labour (2017-18) headed by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya, on the “Industrial Training...

-The Hindu There is no way the country can reap its demographic dividend without fixing vocational education Salvaging the Indian demographic dividend must be a key part of India’s growth story. In 2016, the Government of India formed the Sharada Prasad Committee to rationalise the Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), which are employer bodies mostly promoted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry and other...