The last few years has seen skill education gaining lots of interest. It interestingly commands almost 31% of the CSR funds that corporates have at their disposal. Corporates are either setting up trusts to run these programmes or are tying-up with NGOs to support the same. This has of course evolved into outcome based skilling programs where corporates are not just looking at skill development but also employment.
Sumit Kumar, Vice President, NETAP -TeamLease Services in a chat with SPOI tells our readers of how it is addressing the skilling needs of the industry and how it is bridging the skill deficit by partnering with NETAP –
What kind of challenges does persist in skill training in India? How can these challenges be met?
With the growth and evolution of industries, the need for skill training is increasing constantly in India. The need for up-skilling and re-skilling the workforce has become crucial. However there still are a few challenges when it comes to skill training in India.
• There is still a social stigma attached to vocational courses and hence students prefer higher education over vocational training courses
• There is lack of relevant skill sets available in the industry
• Lack of infrastructure and trainers to help strengthen the skill training models
The skilling ecosystem needs a change right at the entry gate where the focus should be on creating awareness and removing the apprehensions among the youth about vocational training. Vocational training should be a course of choice. Another challenge that needs to be addressed is the way training is imparted. It is still largely done through classroom. It is not easy to impart skill training only through classroom. We need to re-look at the learning delivery framework and should be an ideal mix of classroom education, on-site learning and on the job training.
TeamLease is India’s largest people supply organization that focuses on 3Es – Employment, Education and Employability. Our focus is not just to help organizations find talent, but to assist them in creating a productive workforce using multiple comprehensive learning programs. At TeamLease, we integrate class room training for the candidates along with on the job exposure through apprenticeships.
What are some of the trends in the skilling industry today?
Traditionally skilling was largely related to the manufacturing sector, but of late it has been gaining significance in the services sector as well. Services sector has been adopting skill training initiatives to not only as a CSR initiative but more as a tool to create skilled talent pool. NETAP is one such program which has gained momentum amongst services sector. It gives them flexibility to design program as per their needs and is fully compliant with regulations.
Fresh pass outs and students pursuing studies are inducted as apprentices to groom them as per the need of the organization by subjecting to real work environment. This helps them build not only technical skills but also ability to reason and apply logic. Employers look forward to cognitive skills.
How is Teamlease addressing the skilling needs of corporates today?
TeamLease is India’s largest people supply organization that focuses on 3Es – Employment, Education and Employability. Our focus is not just to help organizations find talent, but to assist them in creating a productive workforce using multiple comprehensive learning programs. At TeamLease, we integrate class room training for the candidates along with on the job exposure through apprenticeships. We not only rely on conventional classrooms but have also introduced digital classrooms which have given candidates easy access to the skilling programs.
In partnership with the Government of Gujarat, TeamLease had set up TeamLease Skills University (TLSU), India’s first vocational university, at Vadodara. In FY2015, we rolled out NETAP (National Employability through Apprenticeship Program) to provide on-the-job training to apprentices that help organization bridge the skill gap by enhancing the employability quotient of the youth through on the job training.
What is NETAP? How does tying up with NETAP helping corporates to address training and skilling needs of its employees?
NETAP is an apprenticeship program we are running through TeamLease Skills University in PPP with Ministry of HRD, Ministry of Skills & Entrepreneurship, CII & NSDC. The objective of the program is to bridge the skill deficit in industry by enhancing the employability quotient of the youth through on the job learning. Over last three and half years over 75000 apprentices have been trained by over 400 employers across industry sectors. Through NETAP, employers are able to prepare a pool of employable candidates that can potentially become their prospective employees. Also, with advent of automation employers are looking at the model to reskill people at mid level to keep them updated with technology.
How far are technologies like cloud and AI used to prepare training modules and impart them to employees?
We are redefining class room by emphasising on digital technology and IoT to make learning accessible, interactive and affordable. Digital class room allows trainers the flexibility to attend the learning sessions at their convenience. Also, there is a strong Learning Management System is in place to manage the progress and evaluation.
What is your future roadmap with regards to skilling in India?
Going forward Industry and Skills Universities will play an important role in improving the skilling ecosystem. Workplace will be the new classroom and employer the trainer. Skills Universities will work along with the industry in the process of execution of skill training as well as the evaluation and certification of candidates.
