Skill training priorities in Assam

The demand-supply gap for skilled workers in India also reveals both challenges and opportunities in creating a skilled workforce. Private recruiters have been flagging the issue of the unemployability of educated youth for lacking the skills that different sectors like industry, finance, healthcare, hospitality, etc. are looking for. Imparting such skills to lakhs of migrating youth from Assam to various states outside the Northeast region can also help create a dynamic pool of skilled workers to attract private investment in the state. Initiatives by the state government, such as the establishment of a skilled university, turning 77 Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) into Centres of Excellence, and the Assam Skill Development Mission, are steps in the right direction. Remittances by unskilled workers, who seasonally migrate to work as daily wage earners, mostly in southern states, will significantly increase once they acquire skills that are in high demand. It also brings them opportunities for fixed-term employment and ends the uncertainty of dependence on daily wage earnings. Even for college and university graduates from the state, the employability of the majority of them is low in different sectors due to a lack of training, which the industry wants. The aspiration of a large section of these graduates is limited to getting government jobs. The fault lies in the education curriculum, which does not inspire them to undergo industry-relevant skill training in addition to obtaining graduate degrees. Research and development priorities demand that courses at the graduate and postgraduate levels are not diluted and viewed only from an employability perspective. Such courses imparting advanced knowledge to motivate them to undertake quality research in basic science, engineering, medical science, and social science are crucial for a country’s progress through innovation, invention, and developing new knowledge. The students can choose between research work and employment after school and college-level education if they also get opportunities for skill training. The skill training programmes can be part of their curriculum or organised during their course period in schools or colleges. The introduction of digital classrooms in schools has opened a window of opportunity for students to get acquainted with a new employment landscape and new skills that different sectors are employing. The teachers can leverage these classrooms to help them explore the fast developing world around them and raise their aspirations and imagination levels about the importance of acquiring new skill sets. Students in rural areas of the state will start realising the importance of getting training in project management, leadership, and e-marketing when their classrooms also inspire them to take a closer look at modern concepts of agricultural development. When their interest in agriculture is not limited to what the farmers in their village have been producing but also widened to include interest in activities of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) or Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs), they are able to understand that modern agriculture is also about developing managerial and marketing skills and leveraging digital technology in addition to farm mechanization. When they can visualize that a modern farmer need not be dependent on the village weekly market to sell farm produce and the FPC can market those in their entire country, their aspiration for acquiring the necessary skills will make skill training programmes vibrant and result-oriented. Any skill training programme in which participants are clueless about what they are going to do with the training and the certificates cannot make any difference to the overall employment scenario. The very low recruitment rate against the large numbers of certificates awarded on completion of various skill training programmes is indicative of this gap persisting in the state. The flagship skill training programmes of the central and state governments addressing this challenge are essential to making them more attractive to youth. Lack of skilled workers also hinders entrepreneurial growth and mass production of innovative products and services. Making the ITIs of the state truly the Centres of Excellence requires the government and industries to collaborate on real terms to update the course curriculum, syllabus, and infrastructure in accordance with the projection of skill demand and supply. The remittances sent by migrants, both skilled and unskilled workers, contribute to the state economy through the augmentation of their household income. However, the reverse migration of unskilled workers creates new pressures on employment and results in a decline in remittances. The reverse migration, or seasonal migration, takes place when demand for their services in the destination states is reduced or seasonal in nature. Compared to this situation, remittances by skilled workers are steadier because of the industry’s demand for skilled workers. The vulnerabilities of even skilled workers also need to be kept in mind in the changing industrial landscape due to the advent of new technologies and innovations. Therefore, even skilled workers acquiring multiple skills through internships, freelancing, and placements are crucial for sustainability. Assam’s ambitious skill training initiatives addressing these challenges are critical to optimally tapping the opportunities of creating a large, employable, skilled workforce.