Everyday Reflections

We talked in our earlier post about the blue collar paradox. Today I did like to share some thoughts on how to go about looking at this problem space and possible approaches to upskill.

Upskilling India’s blue collar workers presents a challenge as well as an opportunity. We explored the reason behind the lag in the earlier post, but now let’s look at possible solutions. 

There are several government initiatives that have been launched to tackle the upskilling problem – including the Skill India Mission, PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana, and the National Apprentice Promotion Scheme. But they suffer from certain issues including lack of real-world exposure, low participation of women, and fragmented skilling programmes. 

A recent report by The Institute for Competitiveness, Skills for the Future: Transforming India’s Workforce Landscape, highlights a disconnect between educational qualifications and industry-relevant skills. Hence, there’s a need to strengthen technical and vocational education to align with the demands of the labour market.

To empower blue-collar youth, there needs to be greater investment in skilling infrastructure. We also need to rethink the model for large-scale upskilling and offer economic aid for those who are unable to pay for training programs.

Towards that end, we can create a self-paced, accessible, and inclusive learning ecosystem. It must offer a combination of a digital platform with mobile-first delivery, on-ground skill stations, up-to-date syllabus/training in local languages, and offering access to microfinance. This will enable urban and semi-urban men — the primary migrating workforce — to upskill. Efforts must also be made to ensure participation by women and marginalized communities in such programmes. The power of AI can also be harnessed to offer study material matching the applicant’s aptitude and suitable jobs based on their skills and qualifications.

Public-private partnerships or citizen initiatives can also act as catalysts. For instance, Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta as Principal Secretary, Panchayati Raj, Government of Karnataka, has guided gram panchayats in reviving rural public libraries, which now offer students and locals access to books, computers and smart speakers. This has led to improved rural literacy in Karnataka.

Another good initiative is the National Credit Framework. which aims to integrate credits from formal education, vocational training, and on-the-job learning. This can offer greater flexibility to learners to transfer skills. The National Educational Policy 2020 also promises to remove the distinctions between academics and vocational learning and promotes exposure to skill-based learning.

Bridging the gap won’t happen overnight, but broad reforms spanning policy frameworks, accessible training, partnerships, fair wages, and alignment between training and industry demands can pave the way.

Have you seen any good initiatives for the blue-collar labour force? Do share in the comments. 

#Upskilling #BlueCollarWorker #LabourEmpowerment #VocationalEducation