Vocational training for school students to be introduced: Economic Survey

NEW DELHI: The Economic Survey for the financial year that ends in March established that merely 2.4 per cent of India’s workforce in the age group of 15-59 years has received formal vocational or technical training, while 8.9 per cent have obtained training through informal sources. According to the survey, out of the 8.9 per cent of workforce, who have received non-formal training, the major chunk is contributed by on-the-job training, amounting to 3.3 per cent of the total. 2.5 per cent of them have self-training and 2.1 per cent have hereditary sources of training.

The survey stated that information technology and related services is the most sought-after formal training course among all genders. Males predominantly seek courses in electrical-power and electronics, mechanical engineering-strategic manufacturing, automotive, office, and business-related work. While preferred training courses for females were found to include textiles handloom-apparels, office work, healthcare and work related to childcare, nutrition, pre-school, and crèche.

The Economic Survey 2020-2021 was tabled in the Parliament on January 29. It mentioned that in order to expose students to skill development, phase-wise vocational courses will be introduced in schools for students in classes 9 to 12, under the Centre’s flagship scheme named Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0. This scheme was launched in 2020-21 and it targets to skill around eight lakh candidates.