Coronavirus pandemic has led to drastic shrinking of the global economies as a result of which job opportunities too have plummeted to an all-time low and it is becoming increasingly difficult for the youth to retain their existing jobs as well as to secure a new job in a fiercely competitive world.
Under these circumstances only those educated youth will find themselves lucky in securing a job of their choice who have the necessary knowledge, skill set, and competencies to cater to the present day demands of the industry.
This has made it incumbent upon the academic institutions to align their education and training with the industry needs, and engage themselves in close interactions and linkages with the industry with a view to enhance employability of their graduates and post-graduates. They need to produce future-ready graduates who could cater to the emerging needs of the global job markets on a sustainable basis.
Thus industry-academia linkages have become inevitable particularly in a post-pandemic and post-NEP-2020 world. Under Clause11.2 of the National Education Policy 2020 it has been envisaged that the higher education institutions will focus on research and innovation by setting up start-up incubation centres, technology development centres, centres in frontier areas of research, foster greater industry-academic linkages and interdisciplinary research including humanities and social sciences research. Further the new policy stipulates that the HEIs will develop specific hand-holding mechanisms and competitions for promoting innovation among student communities.
This kind of vibrant research and innovation culture can be enabled and supported across higher education and research institutions by the proposed National Research Foundation (NRF) under the aegis of NEP-2020.
Maximum thrust needs to be laid upon industry orientation, skill enhancement and entrepreneurship development of our educated youth so that they could be quickly absorbed in the industry after they complete their college and university education.
As part of a holistic education promoted by the new education policy, students in all higher education institutions will be provided with opportunities for internships with local industry, businesses, artists, and crafts persons, as well as research internships with faculty and researchers at their own as well as other education and research institutions, so that students may actively engage with the practical side of their learning and, as a by-product, further improve their employability.
Vocationalisation of education is the buzzword in the contemporary world because professional training in specific vocations alone can steer our youth through the current tough and challenging times of the post-pandemic world.
As per Clause 16.5 of NEP-2020, vocational education will be integrated in the educational curricula of all secondary schools in a phased manner over the next decade and secondary schools will also collaborate with ITIs, polytechnics, local industry, etc.
Vocational education will be integrated into all school and higher education institutions in a phased manner over the next decade. Focus areas for vocational education will be chosen based on skills gap analysis and mapping of local opportunities.
Skill labs will also be set up and created in the schools in a hub and a spoke model, which will allow other schools to use the newly created facilities. Higher education institutions will offer vocational education either on their own or in partnership with industry and NGOs. Vocational courses will also be available to students enrolled in all bachelor’s degree programmes other than B.Voc., including the 4-year multidisciplinary bachelor ’s programmes.
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has already been established in 2008 to promote skill development by catalysing creation of large, quality and for-profit vocational institutions.
This organisation provides funding to build scalable and profitable vocational training initiatives. Its mandate is also to enable support system which focuses on quality assurance, information systems and train the trainer academies either directly or through partnerships.
Since its inception, one of the major pillars of NSDC’s strength is Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), which play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between what the industry demands and what the skilling requirements ought to be.
NSDC is mandated to initiate and incubate SSCs with initial seed funding to facilitate their growth and enable them to achieve self-sustainability in a time bound manner.
The National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) proposed under Clause 16.8 of the NEP-2020 will be made available for each discipline, vocation and profession. Indian standards of professional education will be aligned with the International Standard Classification of Occupations maintained by the International Labour Organisation.
This framework will provide the basis for Recognition of Prior Learning (ROPL). Through this framework, dropouts from the formal education system will be reintegrated by aligning their practical experience with the relevant level of theFramework. The credit-based framework will also facilitate mobility across ‘general’ and vocational education.
The demands mounted by twenty first century entail that all the universities adopt a more aggressive approach for the implementation of innovative programs in the field of higher education.
Universities have to adapt to the emerging knowledge-based economy in which new demands and expectations present significant challenges and more importantly great opportunities.
Since competitive excellence is going to be at the forefront of this century, higher education institutions will be required to offer courses that are relevant to the present and future requirements of the industry and enhance the employability of graduates through development of appropriate skills.
There is need for greater academia-industry interface and to remove all hurdles and obstructions in this process. Cruising through the difficult times, University of Kashmir has in its own humble way contributed not only to the academics and research but to the socio-economic and human development of the region by launching two new flagship programmes viz., Masters in Travel and Hospitality Management, and Masters in Craft Management and Entrepreneurship; that are envisioned to generate excellence and leadership with a unique positioning relevant in regional, national as well as international context.
The objective of these programmes is to provide best possible education and training, comparable to any premier institution in the country and establish visionary leadership for the growth and development of tourism, travel and craft industry.
Industry-academia interaction and linkages have become imperative for all institutions offering technical education that includes degree and diploma programmes in, engineering, technology, management, architecture, town planning, pharmacy, hotel management, catering technology etc., which are critical to India’s overall development.
There will not only be a greater demand for well-qualified manpower in these sectors in the days to come, it will also require closer collaborations between industry and higher education institutions to drive innovation and research in these fields.
Furthermore, influence of technology on human endeavours is expected to erode the silos between technical education and other disciplines too.
Apprenticeship is a skill training program wherein a person is engaged by a company as an apprentice and gains classroom (theory) learning for a short period, followed by on-the-job (practical) training. The National Apprenticeship Training Scheme in India is a one-year programme equipping technically qualified youth with practical knowledge and skills required in their field of work.
The Apprentices are imparted training by the organisations at their place of work. Trained Managers with well-developed training modules ensure that apprentices learn the job quickly and competently.
There is need for our youth to know and avail these facilities of apprenticeship, internship, fellowship and scholarship through central and regional schemes so that they align themselves with the changing needs of the global job markets.
(Author is a Professor of Management Studies and former Dean, Academic Affairs of the University of Kashmir)
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.