25th May 2016, Bangalore :The Art of Living organized the 'Skill Development' and ‘India Way Forward’ Conclave for institutional heads on May 25 at its International Centre in Bangalore.
Leaders from over 23 educational institutions, schools and colleges, around the country participated in the programme.
Speakers at the conclave included; Dr.R.S.Rathore, Director, All India Council for Technical Education; and Mr.Jayant Krishna, CEO, National Skill Development Corporation and Mr Nanda Kumar, IAS, Commissioner of Collegiate Education, Karnataka.
Talking about the issue of increasing number of drop-outs from the traditional educational system, Art of Living Founder, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, said- "For drop-outs, we need to see why they drop-out. One reason is lack of attention and second is mind full of confusion. So if we can increase their capacity to understand, relieve them of their restlessness, impatience, give them a little stability and peace, drop-outs go back to school."
Jayant Krishna, CEO National Skills Development Council, stressed on the fact that though India has the youngest workforce in the world, skill sets are not compatible to the need. He said by the year India reaches 75th year of independence, 500 million of the workforce will have to be trained in complete skill sets. Hence skill development council is very much the much needed factor, he stressed.
The Conclave featured sessions on both skill development and the future of India’s young democracy, highlighting the importance of experiential learning, requirements and responsibilities of education institutions for skill development, corporate expectations from educational institutes, technology of happiness, holistic education, and global dimensions of India's demographic dividend.
Dr R S Rathod, Director, AICTE, emphasized the importance of integrating vocational training skills with the regular mainstream of education. This according to him was recommended as far back in the 60’s by the Kothari commission. Lack of implementation was the reason India is lagging behind in skill development in the workforce, said.
Among the 5 lakh students who pass out of about 500 colleges, only 20% of them are obtaining jobs. "The rest it can be understood are not employable since they lack skill set need", said Nanda Kumar, IAS. Commissioner of Collegiate Education, Karnataka