UNESCO’s — State of the Education Report for India: Vocational Education First; Dissected
Tags: Vocational Training, Unesco, Education, India, Disability

UNESCO’s — State of the Education Report for India: Vocational Education First; Dissected

What’s the Deal?

UNESCO New Delhi recently launched the ‘State of the Education Report for India’, virtually. The Report mainly focuses on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). This is the second Report under the UNESCO’s program ‘State of the Education India’ that it began last year.

Let’s briefly understand the last year’s Report.

Key Highlights from ‘N for Nose: State of the Education for India 2019: Children with Disabilities’

- 27% of kids with disabilities have never been to school.

- Gender Disparity: Fewer girls with disabilities attend school than boys.

- More than one in four children with disabilities aged between 5 and 19 have never attended any educational institute.

- Three-quarter of 5-year olds with disabilities are not in school.

- The Report recommended structural, funding and attitudinal changes to ensure that no child is left out from right to education.

Now, let’s Look at the Key Highlights of the 2020 Report

- “The Report identifies TVET as a key tool for recovery and rehabilitation through a rapid response system of skilling, upskilling and re-skilling. Despite the challenges, the global COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity to expand the digitalization of vocational education and training ensuring the use of distance learning and digital tools”, said Eric Falt, Director, UNESCO New Delhi.

- The Report aims to serve as a reference tool for enhancing and influencing the policies and programs related to skills development in India.

- The Report observed that India has made considerable progress towards its goal of creating a skilled workforce of 110 million people by 2022, as stated in the National Policy of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (NPSDE). The Report also observed that, India annually trains 10 million youth through various on-going schemes.

Recommendations in the 2020 Report

- Place learners and their aspirations at the centre of vocational education and training programmes.

- Create an appropriate ecosystem for teachers, trainers and assessors.

- Focus on upskilling, re-skilling and lifelong learning.

- Ensure inclusive access to TVET for women, differently abled and disadvantaged learners.

- Massively expand the digitalization of vocational education and training.

- Support local communities to generate livelihoods by engaging in the preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

- Align better with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

- Deploy innovative models of financing TVET.

- Expand evidence-based research for better planning and monitoring.

- Establish a robust coordinating mechanism for inter-ministerial cooperation.

Closing Note…

It will be in the interest of the government to take cognizance of the recommendations of this Report as it aligns with the recently launched National Education Policy 2020. If the recommendations are implemented correctly, it will make a large number of individuals employable for a broad range of occupations in various industries and economic sectors.