Need for rating skill development.

What is the issue?

Government is planning to rate skill development institutes by independent bodies

What are government skill development schemes?

National Skill Development Mission

• The National Skill Development Mission launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
• It aims to create convergence across sectors and States in terms of skill training activities.
• Besides consolidating and coordinating skilling efforts, it also aims to expedite decision making across sectors to achieve skilling at scale with speed and standards.

National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

• The Policy acknowledges the need for an effective roadmap for promotion of entrepreneurship as the key to a successful skills strategy.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)

• PMKVY is the flagship outcome-based skill training scheme of the new Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
• The objective of this skill certification and reward scheme is to enable and mobilize a large number of Indian youth to take up outcome based skill training and become employable and earn their livelihood

Skill Loan scheme

• Any Indian National who has secured admission in a course to National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) can avail loan for the purpose.
• Amount of loan varies from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 150, 000/- depending on the course having a repayment period of 3 to 7 years.
• Simple rate of interest @ 11% and 12% per annum is charged during the period of study.

Rural Development and Skill Education (RDSE)

• Rural Development and Skill Education of India introduced an approach to improve the living standards of rural poor through literacy, skill education and various rural development programs, leading to increased participation in development activities through opportunities of self-advancement.

What is the need for the rating of institutions?

• As per a report, two of the top institutes under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Yojana-I did not have the requisite infrastructure to train the number of people, but they claimed they did.
• The government policy of mandatorily asking for Aadhaar numbers of those registered for training, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) wasn’t able to verify Aadhaar numbers of more than 570,000 students.
• Given the government’s experience with the industrial training institutes (ITIs) and the skills development programme, it wasn’t really clear how it intended to train more people with little accountability.
• To address the issues with skill training institutes, government is contemplating introducing a rating system to check for quality.

How will the rating system work?

• Under the new plan, 13,000 ITIs—of which 85% are private run—would get star-ratings.
• The government will be grading institutions for their teaching, placement and infrastructure, to provide a clearer picture to the lakhs of students who enrol at these institutes each year.
• It is planning for an independent body one that is not attached to the skill development ministry or the NSDC
• National Institute Ranking Framework or the National Assessment and Accreditation Council methodology to dispense the ratings of ITIs, as is done for colleges and universities will be followed.

Source: Financial Express