Vocational Education to the youth

Under the auspices of the centrally sponsored Samagra Shiksha scheme, the Department of School Education and Literacy is carrying out the endeavor to vocationalize school education.

Aim of the scheme:

• The programme aims to combine general academic instruction with vocational education in all secondary and senior secondary schools,
• It will also improve the students' employability and entrepreneurial skills, it will also expose them to the workplace, and increase student awareness of various career options so they can make a decision in line with their aptitude, competence, and aspirations.

Steps taken by the government:

• The Samagra Shiksha programme has been updated, and several additional interventions pertaining to vocational education have been added.
• Along with government schools, the scope of vocational education has been broadened to include government-aided institutions as well.
• The Hub and Spoke Model of Practical Education has been adopted, allowing students from neighbouring schools (spoke schools) to use the infrastructure present in the Hub schools for vocational training.
• Pre-vocational education is discussed at the Upper Primary level.
• Internships, bag-free days, and other initiatives have been added to Samagra Shiksha's Innovation component.
• UGC has taken measures to assist higher education institutions across the nation in offering skill-based education in accordance with the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF).
• The institutions are now able to provide full-time, credit-based programmes with a variety of entry and departure points at the Certificate, Diploma, Advanced Diploma, and Research levels.

Skill Hubs Initiative(SHI)

• The major element of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal's Skill Hubs Initiative (SHI) was launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in conjunction with the Ministry of Education. 3.0 Vikas Yojana (PMKVY 3.0).
• Goal: SHI is intended to mainstream and integrates vocational education with general education as per the National Education Policy, 2020. (NEP, 2020).
• Training in skills: The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) offers both long-term and short-term skill training through a number of programmes, including the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), and the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).

What is Vocational education?

• The definition of vocational education is "education based on occupation and employment." Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and career and technical education (CTE) are other names for vocational education (TVET).
• It offers several degrees of training for numerous skills, crafts, and careers throughout all walks of life. It involves a variety of practical tasks.
•  Due to the direct development of skill in a specific set of procedures by the student, it is occasionally referred to as technical education.

Need for the vocational education:

• It help to those who must immediately support their families after completing senior secondary education must begin working as well.
• While Compared to academic degrees, vocational courses are often more practical and skills-based.
• Vocational education must be analysed from a variety of multifaceted perspectives. Of course, one is the practical training aspect. The other is sustainable employment creation.

About National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT):

• The Government of India established the National Council for Vocational Training in 1956 as an advisory body.
• The National Council, whose members represent various Central and State Government Departments, is presided over by the Minister of Labor.
• Its main objective is to establish and grant National Trade Certificates in engineering, non-engineering, building, textile, leather, and other trades that the Indian Government has included in its purview.
• Additionally, it sets criteria for curricula, tools, lodging rates, course lengths, and training techniques.
• It administers exams in a variety of trade courses and establishes the standards of competence needed to pass the test leading to the issuance of a National Trade Certificate.

Implementation Issues with Vocational Education:

• In India, there are numerous private institutions that provide courses in vocational training and completion, but the majority of them are not officially recognised by the government.
• At the secondary level, dropout rates are very high.
• Only Grades 11, and 12, are currently provided for vocational education.
• Lack of Private & Industry Participation
• Less vocational schools across the nation.
• Lack of properly qualified teachers.
• Absence of new fields for vocational education and skill development.
• There is a severe teacher and instructor shortage in the nation.
• Absence of opportunity for ongoing skill improvement.
• Because the current educational system is unresponsive to the skill requirements of the current and future industries, there is a supply-demand mismatch on a number of different levels.

Way Forward

• India's demographic dividend can be fully utilized by training and skilling the youth with a focus on women. Vocational Education can bridge the gap between the demographic dividend and demographic burden and can make a significant contribution to India's economic development.

Self-Reliance in Defence Sector

The government has implemented a number of reforms and legislative efforts over the past few years to stimulate domestic design, development, and production of defence equipment, thereby encouraging self-reliance in the nation's defence industry & technology.

Steps taken by the government:

• Process for industrial licencing has been streamlined with a longer term of validity
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy liberalisation permitting 74% FDI via automatic route
• The Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) programme was launched with the participation of startups and micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs)
• SRIJAN, a new indigenization portal launched to help Indian businesses, primarily MSMEs, indigenize
• Creation of two defence industrial corridors, one in each of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh
• Progressive growth in defence budget allocation Military modernization spending plan for domestic purchases

Note

• The proportion of domestic purchases in total purchases has been increasing. Domestic purchases made up 54% of all purchases in 2018–19; this percentage increased to 59% in 2019–20, and to 64% in 2020–21. This year, it has been increased to 68%, with 25% of the budget designated for purchases from private businesses.

Why should India focus on self-reliance in the defence sector?

• Even if India aims to have an economy worth $5 trillion, it is clear that it has many gaps in its national security.
• For important military inventory products, there is a glaring high dependency index on foreign suppliers (traditionally the former USSR, now Russia).
• This reliance creates a large-scale national vulnerability and weakens India's pursuit of real and respectable strategic autonomy.
• Additionally, the current fighting capacity gaps highlight India's weaknesses in defending its key national security interests.
• In the previous five years, India's defence exports have increased eight-fold.
• More than 75 countries throughout the world are recipients of Indian exports of defence goods.

Various challenges:

• World issues: Unforeseen occurrences, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as other elements, such as the COVID, which impacted the world economy and its supply lines.
• Rupee depreciation: The difficulties experienced by the Indian defence industrial ecosystem are made worse by the global difficulties, which are already complex.
• Production: Over the past 50 years, South Korea and China have shown that their countries are skilled at industrial design and manufacturing, but India has missed the bus.
• The design and production of semiconductor chips have become the new standard for measuring economic growth and military might thanks to technological advancements.
• India has yet to develop a profile that would be considered pertinent in this field, where the US and China are now embroiled in fierce competition.
• Lack of essential Technologies: The indigenous manufacturing is hampered by a lack of design expertise in critical technologies, insufficient R&D funding, and the inability to produce significant subsystems and components.
• There is very little interaction between the R&D establishment, production organisations (public or commercial), and end users.
• Lack of Coordination: India's capacity for defence manufacturing is hampered by the Ministry of Industrial Promotion's and the Ministry of Defence's conflicting responsibilities.

Steps to Follow:

• Mandatory Disclosure of Technology for Subsystems: When India purchases any weapon systems, there must be a plan in place for the ultimate production of ammunition and replacement parts in India. This will save us from needing to import supplies on short notice during emergencies.
• The same is true of facilities for repairs, upkeep, and overhauling armament platforms.
• Exporting weapons of defence: When a transparent policy is used to open the door to defence exports, investment—whether Indian or foreign—will be viable.
• Conflict of Interest: The DRDO's position as the government's sole adviser, developer, and technology evaluator creates a conflict of interest that prevents private players from participating.

Way Forward

• Effective defence capabilities, maintaining national sovereignty, and achieving military superiority all depend on self-reliance in defence production.
• Achieving this will guarantee strategic independence, affordable defence gear, and could result in savings on the cost of defence imports, which can then be used to fund the nation's physical and social infrastructure.
• The utmost objective in the national policy discussion should be to gradually alter this techno-strategic landscape in India's favour.
• This will present an opportunity to increase employment in India, which will raise the economy's growth indicators.