India is striving to achieve several ambitious development goals set for itself. All stakeholders including companies are making dedicated efforts to contribute their best and take the economy forward. However, they are struggling to tackle a formidable challenge – the lack of a skilled workforce.
As a result of skill shortage in our education system, our youth are struggling to meet the emerging needs of the industries, resulting in a major hurdle in optimizing the employability of the country. According to Mangroup’s Talent Shortage 2020 report, data shows that around 63 per cent of the companies India Struggling with talent shortage.
The National Employability Report for Engineers 2019 shows that more than 80 percent of engineering graduates are not employable. Despite these discouraging statistics, in India only engineering and MBA graduates are considered employable as other degrees show worse results. This situation causes a sudden increase in unemployment every year when new batches graduate, reducing the overall productivity of the economy.
The rapid pace of technological progress in the last few decades has completely changed the working ecosystem. This has not only increased the requirements for companies to employ a skilled workforce to be able to survive in a highly competitive environment, but has also raised their expectations manifold.
what the industry demands
According to a report from India education Forum 2021, Key skills that matter more to employers are communication, presentation, attention to detail, research, analytical skills and writing skills. They also look for a diverse set of domain knowledge that can help an organization in different ways.
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Analytics and Business Analytics are some of the domain skills that are in high demand. In addition, employers prefer employees who require minimal time for ‘on-the-job’ training. Hence, job ready candidates are their first choice.
Why is there a skill shortage in the Indian education system?
Even though Indian educational institutions are offering degrees, they are unable to develop the skills required to get employed and meet industry standards. The primary reason is that our curriculum is not developing at the pace with which the world is developing.
The curriculum, especially at the primary and secondary education level, still emphasizes theoretical knowledge, leaving little scope for practical and research-based learning. The syllabus for class 11th and 12th and onwards is developed around theoretical knowledge. These age-old theories are also struggling to find their place in today’s modern world. There is a lack of basic laboratory facilities and qualified teachers in most areas of the country. Even science subjects are taught theoretically, leaving the practical aspects untouched.
The Indian education system follows a one-size-fits-all approach that makes the ecosystem vulnerable to students with low cognitive abilities. While trying to teach students in the same, we make weak students even more weak, leaving them after graduation. Our students are struggling when it comes to communication, presentation and other soft skills. The situation is even worse in remote areas of the country as it lacks basic necessities and infrastructure to impart skills to the students like computer labs and internet facility.
How to bridge the gap and meet industry demand
To meet these industry demands and ensure quality production, we need to change our curriculum and introduce relevant subjects or courses accordingly. We need to include those subjects and courses which are in demand in our curriculum and there should be more emphasis on vocational education from primary education to higher education like engineering and MBA.
By offering learning in the areas of Complex Programming, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Handling, we will help our youth to adapt to the changing environment. At the same time, we need to provide easy access to technology to students, regardless of their location, to help them develop digital skills and understand content quickly and effectively.
In addition, we should focus on periodic training of teachers which is excellent for enhancing the abilities of the students. With training, they will be able to keep abreast of the evolving needs of the world in terms of technology and soft skills.
As Industrial Revolution 4.0 knocks at our door, India is witnessing a surge in demand for a workforce prepared with futuristic skills as per the new age technologies. Organizations working in various fields are opening up new roles that require innovative thinking, creativity and skills of the 21st century. We need to take necessary steps today to prepare our youth for these roles and the challenges of the future. We have to provide technical and soft skills to bridge the skill gap and prepare our youth for leadership roles. These are the basic grassroots changes that need to be implemented today to fulfill the dreams of tomorrow of our country.
– Written by Piyush Nangroo, Co-Founder and COO, Sunstone
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