VISION DOCUMENT FOR I.N.D.I.A TRUST - NGO PARTNERSHIP
PROJECT : N.E.E.D
(NATIONAL mission for EMPLOYABILITY and
ENTREPRENEURSHIP skills DEVELOPMENT)
In recent years, we are faced with the realisation that the availability of requisite Employability and Entrepreneurship skills – in terms of nature, quality and numbers - is beginning to emerge as a major constraint in productively using our available human resource.
Our base of skilled and knowledge workers is particularly narrow.
It has been noted at the highest levels that, in order to sustain a high level of economic growth, it is essential to have a reservoir of skilled and trained workforce.
Employability and Entrepreneurship skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development of any country.
Countries with higher and better levels of Employability and Entrepreneurship skills adjust more effectively to the challenges and opportunities of globalization. Shortages have already emerged in a number of sectors.
Large-scale Employability and Entrepreneurship skills development is an imminent imperative.
There is a growing sense that past strategies of Employability and Entrepreneurship skills development are inadequate to deal with contemporary requirements and expectations.
The challenge is not merely of producing more Employability and Entrepreneurship skilled persons needed by the economy.
It is also of ensuring, simultaneously, that Employability and Entrepreneurship skills development initiatives also address the needs of the huge population, by providing them with Employability and Entrepreneurship skills that will make them Employable and Enterprising.
The challenge of translating benefits of high rate of economic growth into a faster pace of poverty reduction, in other word, inclusive growth, through the generation of productive employment and Enterprising remains formidable, and skill development of persons working in the unorganized sector is a key strategy in that direction.
Planned development of Employability and Entrepreneurship skills must be underpinned by an ‘Action’, which is both comprehensive as well as national in character. Piece meal policies, or policies that do not accommodate or reconcile the perceptions of different stakeholders across the country, cannot serve the goals of national development effectively.
A policy response is needed to guide formulation of Employability and Entrepreneurship skills development strategies and coordinated action by all concerned.
Furthermore, in view of linkages between employment, economic growth and skills, it is important that the policies in the area of skills development be linked to policies in economic, employment and social development arenas.
The country is poised at that moment in history when a much brighter future for its entire people is in its reach. Employability and Entrepreneurship skills development will help actualize this potential. Development and articulation of Action plans on Employability and Entrepreneurship skills development is thus a matter of priority.
The issues and challenges in Employability and Entrepreneurship skills development are many These are of:
The size of the task in building a system of adequate capacity
Ensuring equitable access to all, in particular, the youth, the disadvantaged communities, the minorities, the poor, the women, the disabled, the dropouts, and those working in informal economy,
Reducing skill mismatch between supply and demand of skills,
Diversifying Employability and Entrepreneurship skills development programmes to meet the changing requirements, particularly of emerging knowledge economy,
Ensuring quality and relevance of training Employability and Entrepreneurship skills,
Building true market place competencies rather than mere qualifications,
Providing mobility between education and training, different learning pathways to higher levels, and establishing a qualifications framework,
Promoting greater and active involvement of social partners and forging a strong, symbiotic, public-private partnership in skills development
Establishing institutional arrangements for planning, quality assurance, and involvement of stakeholders, coordination of skills development across the country
Governance of skills development system that promotes initiative, excellence, innovation, autonomy, and participation, while ensuring that the legitimate interests of all beneficiaries are protected
Strengthening the physical and intellectual resources available to National level Employability and Entrepreneurship Development (N.E.E.D.) project and providing a direction for the future.