1. Team Members
Lipsa Bharati (IIM Bangalore)
Alekhya. K ( IIT Bhubaneswar)
Madhavi. R (IIT Bhubaneswar)
Nishant ( IIT Bhubaneswar)
Sharda P. Seth (IIM Kozhikode)
Boosting Skillsets- Increasing the
Employability of Youth

2. Need to connect facts
 An estimated 31% of employers worldwide find it difficult to
fill positions because of talent shortages in their markets
 Demographic Dividend- 1/3rd of India below 20! – But need
adequate educational and economic opportunities
 Since 1991, 100% of the net jobs created in India has been in
informal sector
 India has 50% self employment and 90% informal
employment
 47% of Indian graduates are not employable in any sector of
the knowledge economy

3. Three Level Solution
Employed Youth or Educated UnemployedYouth
In-College youth
School Level - Classes 7 onwards, where drop out rates
is highest

4. Pre-requisites for any skill development
plan
 Dynamic databases of available jobs must be maintained
locally, district-wise, state wise, along with qualification
requirements
 Needs investment in Information Technology infrastructure
for maintaining such a database
 Will need partnership from private sector, across various
sizes of organizations
 Gamut of data collection- but results will pay off
If India conducts Census, it can conduct this!

5. Employed / Educated Unemployed
 48% of salary deducted towards mandatory benefits for wage
levels upto Rs. 6500 pm-Low wage employees cannot survive on
half the wages-Cause of informal employment
 Need of advertising the benefits of Provident Fund
 Financing structure for vocational training in form of loans for
students needed-guarantee of placements aids this- Maruti adopts
ITIs- similar adoption models needed
 Sector Skill Councils of NSDC must partner with corresponding
industrial sectors to map demand best and trim its programs
 While NSDC addresses a lot of issues, its programs need to be
advertised to invite more private players

6. In College Youth
 Majority of youth are employed in IT, but school or college
curriculum seldom prepares students for it
 Compulsory IT courses mapped to industry must be
introduced across all disciplines, in partnerships with training
institutes/app developing companies- extra costs can be
accommodated within existing fees
 Proficiency in manufacturing stations needs skills like
milling, threading, welding, which can only be honed with
industry exposure
 Training in industrial processes needed at engineering level

7. School Level Measures
 General Perception: Education has low return on investment
 Career fairs must be driven to schools for students above grade 7- high
drop out rates after grade 7
 It is important for students to know of future prospects of
education, before they opt out of school to engage in other means of
employment
 Organizing diverse career fairs is the key, encompassing various fields
from science, to fine arts, commerce etc.
 Follow up with need based vocational education in schools and
counseling
 This can start with computer education and imparting soft skills through
computers, since computer literacy is a mandate across govt. schools
 Investment in computers and circulation of video modules in both
English and Vernacular languages is important- volunteers for video
content can be easily pooled in from major colleges

8.  Teachers are the chief points of contact with students- need
for improvising teaching competence in government
schools
 A 10 month B.Ed program, with <10% clearing it, may not
create a high quality teacher
 A robust program for teachers that will improve subject
matter knowledge, teaching ability and intent, student
assessment has to be designed-like aTeach For India model
 The problem of soft skills like poor communicability can be
gradually routed with improved teaching
 Rather than be centrally directed, such programs need local
success first, implementation at district levels
Everyone needs a little inspiration!

9. Summary
 Importance of soft skills to be emphasized across all
levels beginning with school
 Leveraging Information Technology-soft/IT skills can
be imparted through video modules/lectures-less
expenditure compared to physically placing trainers
 Invite private players in the process of skill
development
 Work towards implementing best models across country
in small scales first e.g. model of Team Lease Services
 Benchmarking quality of students graduating from
colleges against Indian and global levels

10. References
 FICCI Report on “The Skill Development Landscape in India
and Implementing Quality SkillsTraining”,August, 2010
 www.teamlease.com
 http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Issues/Business-
environment/Six-global-trends-shaping-the-business-world--
-Demographic-shifts-transform-the-global-workforce
 http://monitor.icef.com/2013/02/to-upskill-workforce-
india-goes-international
 Articles in Forbes, July and August, 2013 issues