UPSC Mains 2023 GS2 Q18: model answer

Since the launch of Skill India (2015), programmes like Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), ITIs and the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme have trained crores of people and supplied workers to construction, retail, healthcare, IT and logistics.

The linkage: a chain, not three silos

• Education to skill: foundational literacy and numeracy make further training possible. A youth who cannot read a manual cannot be trained well.
• Skill to employment: skills add value only if they match what employers need.
• Employment to education: labour market signals should shape courses, and workers need lifelong reskilling.

Where the chain breaks

• Weak foundation: ASER shows poor learning levels in schools.
• Mismatch: India Skills Reports find only about half of graduates employable.
• Low placement: PMKVY placement rates have been modest.
• Stigma: vocational training is seen as second-best.
• Job creation: most new jobs are informal and low-paid; skills cannot substitute for demand.
• Women: low participation despite training due to mobility and care burdens.
• Paradox: high unemployment among educated youth alongside industry complaints of skill shortages.

Reforms

• NEP 2020 aims to give at least 50% of learners exposure to vocational education by 2025.
• National Skills Qualifications Framework and NCVET for common standards.
• Apprenticeship-embedded degrees and industry-designed courses.
• Recognition of prior learning for informal workers.
• PM Vishwakarma for traditional artisans.
• Labour-intensive manufacturing to create demand.

Education, skill and employment must form one seamless pipeline. Only then will skilled supply turn into productive jobs.