Government's Skill India initiative will lead to significant growth in the economy, and the country as a whole - Sameer Joshi, CEO & Director Kohinoor Technical Institute

WorldHRDiary Interview:

With new policies on skill development making its way, skilling and up-skilling initiatives are leading the growth of the Indian economy. The objective of the National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship- 2015 is to meet the challenge of skilling at scale with speed with quality.

With a focus on self-employment, leading to the creation of “Employers” is another step in the right direction. This was articulated by the H’ble Prime Minister in “Start-up India”. Nearly half of the Indian economy is run by the unorganized sector, which is self-employed. As the Government supports them with skilling and with the required finances through Micro Unit Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA). It will lead to significant growth in the economy, and the country as a whole.

Sameer Joshi, CEO & Director Kohinoor Technical Institute (KTI) speaks with WorldHRDiary (WHD) Editorial Bureau about key skill development challenges, KTI's contribution towards Skill Development & Entrepreneurship 

Excerpts:

Sameer Joshi

WHD: At present, there is a gap between what industry demands and what academic institutions can offer/offering. How KTI is bridging this gap?

Sameer Joshi: Kohinoor Technical Institute (KTI) has partnered with National Skill Development Corporation of India (NSDC) and accredited and affiliated to the NSDC’s Sector Skill Councils [SSCs]  like Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC), Indian Plumbing Skills Council (IPSC), Retailers Associations Skill Council of India (RASCI), Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC), Capital Goods Skill Council (CGSC) and Construction Skill Development Council of India (CSDC), Tourism and Hospitality Sector Skill Council (THSC). All our courses are aligned with SSC’s and we offer our students 30% theory, 70% OJT (on job training). We train our students with SSC aligned courses to make them Industry Ready with timely updated lab equipments. We also train our faculty on industry standards in order to impart best quality training to the students. KTI also create platforms to generate more awareness about vocational education. We had conducted panel discussion to make vocation education more aspirational.

The other important strategy KTI has initiated on designing skill programs that are ‘Demand Driven’ i.e. customised skilling to meet the industry requirements. Especially in industry verticals like ITES, Construction, Aviation etc. we have tied up with Employers (companies) who need skilled manpower specific job roles. We run the training modules as defined by the industry to enrol students, train them on such skills and then they are finally certified by the industry before selecting on the job.

WHD: Almost two third of our youth are presently residing in tier II & Tier III, rural areas. How are you connecting them to your institution's skill development courses?

Sameer Joshi: Established in 1967, Kohinoor Technical Institute (KTI) is a pioneer in vocational training for technical courses. KTI has a vision to empower the young workforce of India by imparting skills that are Government Approved and Industry Ready. KTI does this by imparting quality technical education that is focused on employment. Founded by the Honourable Dr. Manohar Joshi, KTI started with a single centre at Dadar in Mumbai, and has now grown into a national network of 75 centres across 7 Indian states- Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. It is often said that India lives in its villages. The rural areas are characterized by large scale poverty, low levels of productivity, lack of adequate basic minimum services and social reforms. KTI with vision ‘Sparsh Kohinoor Ka’ has spread at grassroots level touching lives in every household. KTI provides values-based empowering education that works to deliver employment and entrepreneurship to the rural India via technical vocational education.

Collectively working towards the mission; ‘Bringing quality technical education within easy reach of those who want to learn a skill to help them stand on their own feet.’

Skill, Employment, Livelihood is the KTI motto - training students across various socio-economic categories and reaching the under privileged.

We conduct college seminars, through van activationswe reach out to villages for door to door awareness activities, not just rural areas but also tier II cities requires awareness and support. We had conducted CSR activity for Yerwada jail prisoners in Pune.

Our centers across India arrange for Technical exhibitions in which students showcase their talent by making creative projects. Then we invite nearby schools and colleges to visit exhibition to get first hand information. Kaushal Shivir was one of such program initiated by NSDC conducted by KTI;we had invited local school children’s with their parents and school principles to hear views on Vocational Education by respected representatives of GoI. As a part of awareness building drive to get more and more youths enrolled in PMKVY (Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana) and make them employable under Skill India Initiative, a team of NSDC (National Skill Development Corporation) with its nodal training partner – KTI (Kohinoor Technical Institute) kicked off the promotional drive from KTI’s Kurla Centre and went around the city with ‘Hunnar Express’ – van with the message of ‘Skill Development and Youth Empowerment’. The ‘Hunar Express’ is presently on a mission of covering 125 districts of the country.

WHD: Presently, what are the skill development challenges in India?

Sameer Joshi: India is facing biggest challenge of shortage of skilled manpower. According to a report by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), it is estimated that the workforce needed in India’s booming Building, Construction and Real Estate sector is 76.5 million people; in Transportation, Logistics, Warehousing and Packaging sector its 28.4 million people; the wellness industry’s needs will be 14.27 million skilled people; Retail will require 56 million skilled people and the Make In India initiative will create 100 million jobs opportunities in manufacturing. India will require nearly 120 million more workers by 2022 and equipping them with required skills would be crucial in reaping economic benefits. All these numbers indicate a huge demand for skilled manpower in India.

The key challenge today in skill development is that the people’s perception on skilling and vocational training is still low. Skilling and vocational education is taken as the last resort meant for those who have not been able to progress in the formal academic system. We need to make vocational training aspiration to public by giving them employment and creating sustainable environment for them to create livelihood.

Secondly today’s skilling is predominantly Supply Based skilling [input driven] rather than really making it more demand driven. There is a lot more can be expected from Industry to drive more Industry based program to make easy track from skilling to jobs.

Also creating more Entrepreneurs through Vocational Skilling is yet another area where a lot more work is required. By large, we focus more on creating employers and not employees.

WHD: According to you, what role can the industry play in improving the existing system of vocational training courses?

Sameer Joshi: Industry’s role in skill development is crucial.

       a.      At a Strategic Level, Industry can provide inputs to apex organizations such as NSDC  and various Sector Skill Councils (SSC), for them to review the Qualification Packs (QP/NOS), Training Standards and Qualifications

     b.   Industry should provide ongoing inputs on the skills that are required for them to be competitive in the international market and compete against developed economies as well as China. Based on these inputs, the Vocational training providers can upgrade their lab infrastructure, the training content and faculty.

c.     Finally, they can also provide the skill gaps that that exist and the challenges they face with their existing manpower and fulfilling their needs, so that the Vocational training providers can focus on these skill gaps and support the Industry with skilled personnel.

WHD: What is your take on Government of India's Skill India initiative?   

Sameer Joshi: This is the first time that Skills have taken a Strategic Focus for the Government. This will send a very strong message to the international community that India is ready to stand up and be counted as an Economic Superpower. It shows the commitment of the Government to support the Industry by providing Skilled Manpower to meet the current manpower needs as well as be prepared for the future.

The formation of NSDC, Sector Skill Councils (SSC) and formulation of the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) has happened between 2009 and 2014 and it has given a great push to Vocational Training. With new policies on skill development making its way, skilling and up-skilling initiatives are leading the growth of the economy. The objective of the National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015 is to meet the challenge of skilling at scale with speed with quality.

With a focus on self-employment, leading to the creation of “Employers” is another step in the right direction. This was articulated by the H’ble Prime Minister in “Start-up India”. Nearly half of the Indian economy is run by the unorganized sector, which is self-employed. As the Government supports them with skilling and with the required finances through Micro Unit Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA). It will lead to significant growth in the economy, and the country as a whole.