Vocational courses to be rolled out for skill development of school students, suggests Economic Survey

Vocational courses will be introduced phase-wise in schools for classes 9 to 12 to expose students to skill development avenues, as part of the Centre's flagship skilling scheme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0, according to the Economic Survey 2020-21 tabled in Parliament on Friday.

The Survey for the financial year ending March said merely 2.4 per cent of India's workforce in the age group of 15-59 years have received formal vocational or technical training, while another 8.9 per cent obtained training through informal sources.

"Out of the 8.9 per cent workforce who received non-formal training, the largest chunk is contributed by on-the-job training (3.3 per cent), followed by self-learning (2.5 per cent) and hereditary sources (2.1 per cent) and other sources (1 per cent)," the survey stated.

It said the most sought-after training course by those who received formal training was IT-ITeS among both males and females.

For males, the other preferred courses were electrical-power and electronics, mechanical engineering-strategic manufacturing, automotive, office and business-related work, while those for females included textiles handloom- apparels, office work, healthcare and work related to childcare, nutrition, pre-school and creche.

"A phase-wise introduction of vocational courses in schools shall be initiated in coordination with Ministry of Education. This component shall be implemented for classes 9 to 12 to expose students to skill development avenues," the survey stated.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0 was rolled out in 2020-21 with a tentative target to skill 8 lakh candidates, including migrants.