How Better Skilling Of Girls In Schools Can Revolutionize The Job Market

Prashant Agarwal Jun 10, 2020

Numbers speak for itself! As per the “All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE)”, among the 993 Universities,16 Universities exclusively caters to women; with 3 in Rajasthan, 2 in Tamil Nadu, 1 each in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

Additionally, higher education statistics published by AISHE, MHRD (Table 1) from 2011-12 to 2017-18 show a noticeable incremental enrolment trend. The total number of males enrolled increased by about 30.3 lakh, 18.7 per cent, in six years, while the number of women enrolled increased by 44.3 lakh, a whopping 34 per cent rise.

However, it is important to note here that, the Indian education system has an unwavering ability to provide the best-in-class theoretical education, yet inadvertently, have not been able to transform it into a viable catalyst for progress. This is one of the key reasons why we come across terms such as demand-skill gap that multiple industries are currently grappling with, day in and day out. India has got an enormous pool of talent, some of the best academic institutions, but there is a pressing lack of adequately skilled industry ready employable workforce. Also, due to the gender divide, especially in rural India, girls often find it difficult to earn their livelihood from a decent part-time job after completing their school education, owing to the lack of requisite employable skill sets.

As a measure to bridge this glaring gap, in October 2019, the Delhi government unveiled a mobile-learning app titled STEM, an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, for school going girls. The move was aimed at ironing out gender disparities and encourage girl child education.

However, a lot of ground is yet to be captured as far as employment is concerned. The available data from the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18 stated that 33% of India's skilled youth are unemployed. Furthermore, 4.69 per cent of India's workforce is only formally skilled, as per a 'Central Skill Development and Entrepreneurship report.

Taking into cognizance such dismal numbers, the Government, academia and the industry are initiating measures and programs to address this scenario. For example, schools affiliated to the CBSE board are offering free skilling courses to their girl students, from standard 6th to 11th. The 12 hours duration skill training is currently underway for 2020-21 batches.

The skill-based courses that are being run by the CBSE board include courses in Mass Media, Artificial Intelligence, Banking & Insurance, Health Care, Travel & Tourism, IT, Beauty & Wellness, Marketing, Agriculture, Textile Design. Yoga, Fashion Studies, Financial Literacy and Food Nutrition and Dietetics. Some of its details are as follows:

Artificial Intelligence - The Indian AI industry witnessed increased revenues to the tune of $415 million in 2019, as compared to $230 million in 2018. Artificial intelligence-based inventions are consistently increasing the salary bar every time. Anybody can enroll in advanced courses in the said field, after completing a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics or statistics.

Food Nutrition and Dietetics - Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2019 stated that India ranked at the 102nd position and was the lowest-ranked amid all BRICS nations in terms of food and nutrition inadequacy. There are several e-learning platforms and there are colleges as well which provides relevant courses in this area, with a duration of 6 months to 2 years. The syllabus includes food management, healthy food, prevention of illness and strengthening the immune system.

Fashion Studies - The courses in this field brings the element of design, crucial tools for learning designing, visualization, communication and design fundamentals. Also, several other skills are imparted such colour theory, the psychology of colour and key principals of design.

Beauty & Wellness - According to the NSDC and KPMG report, the global beauty and wellness industry is burgeoning at a CAGR of 15 % annually and the rate has been more or less consistent over the last five years. There are many services like Physical activity, including gymnasiums and group exercises, Haircutting, hair styling, hair colouring, therapeutic massages for body rejuvenation and detoxification.

Financial Literacy- In rural India, there exists significant issues in terms of social stigma, socioeconomic disparities and affordable access to services by the people, owing to insufficient funds and inadequate financial infrastructure. There are courses available in short term and long term basis, like Personal Finance, Corporate Finance, Management Accounting, Financial Risk Management and Wealth Management.

Apart from this, there are also several central government schemes to bring daughters back into the mainstream educated society, such as the likes of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Mudra Yojana for women. Both schemes aim to eradicate the age-old and staunch ideas of inadequate awareness, girl child education, girls not to be sent to schools and marrying them off before their eligible age.

In fact, ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme has been an instrumental move in improving the Child Sex Ratio at birth in 104 out of the 161 districts, that it has been implemented in till date.