Education for Common People

                              

                                                   Education for Common People

Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Promotion

Over time, MSDE has taken on additional roles through various organizations and skilling schemes, including:

 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)

 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK)

 National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)

 National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET)

 Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS)

 National Institute for Entrepreneurship & Small Business Develo  pment (NIESBUD)

 Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE)

 Directorate General of Training (DGT)

India, as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, recognizes the need to expand opportunities within service sectors and integrate training courses with apprenticeship programs. In December 2014, a significant reform of the Apprenticeship Act paved the way for the introduction of the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) in August 2016. NAPS strategically incentivizes employers to engage more apprentices in their workforce, resulting in remarkable advancements in apprenticeship enrollment and active participation in skill development over the past nine years. While skill development is crucial, its impact remains limited unless accompanied by employment generation. By fostering the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the government plays a pivotal role in creating additional employment opportunities and engaging the entire workforce.MSDE’s mandate includes integrating entrepreneurship orientation modules into the Employability, Entrepreneurship, and Life Skills component of PMKVY courses. Additionally, ITI courses already incorporate entrepreneurship modules within employability skills. To promote a culture of entrepreneurship among youth, the Ministry instituted the National Entrepreneurship Awards (NEA) in 2016, recognizing and honoring outstanding entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders. These awards serve as models of excellence for others to emulate and improve upon.

(Kaushal Vikas aur Udhyamshilta Mantralaya) is responsible for the following affairs of the Central Government:

1.Skill Development Framework: Coordinating with relevant stakeholders to evolve an appropriate skill development framework. This includes bridging the gap between demand and supply of skilled manpower through vocational and technical training, skill upgradation, and fostering innovative thinking.

2. Skills Mapping and Certification: Mapping existing skills and ensuring their certification.

3. Youth Entrepreneurship Education: Expanding youth entrepreneurship education by forging strong partnerships between educational institutions, businesses, and community organizations. Setting national standards for entrepreneurship education.

4. Coordination for Skill Development: Ensuring effective coordination in skill development efforts.

5. Market Research and Training Curriculum: Conducting market research and devising training curricula for important sectors.

6. Industry-Institute Linkage: Facilitating collaboration between industries and educational institutions.

7. Public-Private Partnerships: Encouraging partnerships with industries requiring skilled manpower.

8. Policy Formulation: Developing broad policies related to market requirements and skill development across other Ministries/Departments.

9. Soft Skills Policies: Framing policies related to soft skills.

10. IT and Computer Education: Promoting large-scale skill development in Information Technology and computer education.

11. Academic Equivalence: Ensuring equivalence of skill sets with academic qualifications.

12. Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs): Overseeing work related to ITIs.

13. National Skill Development Organizations:

• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)

• National Skill Development Agency

• National Skill Development Trust

14. Skilling for Entrepreneurship in Science and Technology

15. Institutes for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development:

• National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NOIDA)

• Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (Guwahati)

National Skill Development Mission

The National Skill Development Mission seeks to provide a strong institutional framework at the Centre and States for implementation of skilling activities in the country. The Mission has a three-tiered, high-powered decision-making structure. At its apex, the Mission’s Governing Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, seeks to provide overall guidance and policy direction. The Steering Committee, chaired by Minister in Charge of Skill Development, envisages review the Mission’s activities in line with the direction set by the Governing Council. The Mission Directorate, with Secretary of Skill Development as Mission Director, ensures the implementation, coordination and convergence of skilling activities across Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments. 

The Mission also has selected sub-missions in high priority areas. The 3rd meeting of the Steering Committee of NSDM, chaired by Hon‘ble Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, was held on 04.01.2023. During the meeting, need for creating greater synergy among skill development schemes of all Ministries as well as State Governments, spending on skill development by all stakeholders, further aligning skill development efforts with market realities, international mobility of skilled workforce and fast-tracking implementation to create impact-at-scale were emphasised.

Advantages of Free Education Programs in India

Educational schemes in India are programs launched to make learning more inclusive, affordable, and equal. These educational schemes aim to reduce social and financial barriers that prevent children from attending school. By offering mid-day meals, scholarships, and residential facilities, they ensure that every child has access to quality learning. Many of these initiatives focus on girls’ education, which helps reduce dropout rates and bridge gender gaps. The ultimate goal of free education in India is to empower every child with knowledge, skills, and opportunities that can shape their future.

1. Increased Enrollment: More children can attend school by removing financial barriers.

2. Enhanced Literacy Rates: Access to free education in India has significantly improved literacy rates nationwide.

3. Gender Equality: Special education schemes for girls ensure equal opportunities.

4. Social Upliftment: Education empowers children from marginalized communities to break the cycle of poverty.

5. Holistic Development: These programs often include provisions for mid-day meals, uniforms, and books, ensuring the overall well-being of the children.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana

Although primarily a savings program, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana indirectly supports the education of girl children. The program allows parents to save for their daughters' education and marriage, providing financial security for their future educational needs.

By addressing financial, social, and infrastructural barriers, these programs have made significant strides in ensuring that every child, regardless of their background, has access to quality Child education. Organizations like CRY - Child Rights and You play a crucial role in advocating for these rights and supporting the implementation of these programs. Through collective efforts, we can ensure that every child in India enjoys their right to education, paving the way for a more equitable future.

Challenges in Implementation of Educational Schemes

While India has introduced many educational schemes to improve access and quality, their implementation continues to face several hurdles. These challenges limit their effectiveness and slow down progress toward inclusive education.

• Resource Constraints: Insufficient funding and poor infrastructure reduce the impact of many schemes.
• Lack of Skilled Teachers: Shortage of trained educators affects the quality of teaching.
• Access and Equity Issues: Social, economic, and digital divides make education unevenly accessible.
• Weak Monitoring: Ineffective evaluation hampers accountability and improvement.
• Need for Training: Limited focus on teacher development perpetuates rote learning practices.

The changes are in the education policy enabling environment and due to the emergence of COVID-19 and its impact on education services.

The three programming areas prioritized at the beginning of the country programme in 2018 based on UNICEF’s mandate, presence and knowledge of other stakeholders and partners, capacities, available resources, gaps/needs and lessons learned, remain relevant. These are:

1. Early childhood education
2. Out-of-school children
3. Quality teaching and learning

Girls and boys including the most marginalised will enjoy sustained and equitable benefit from quality education with learning outcomes focusing on foundational learning and life skills. This is the vision of the UNICEF Education Programme.

National Education Policy 2020

Education Policy lays particular emphasis on the development of the creative potential of each individual. It is based on the principle that education must develop not only cognitive capacities - both the ‘foundational capacities ’of literacy and numeracy and ‘higher-order’ cognitive capacities, such as critical thinking and problem solving – but also social, ethical, and emotional capacities and dispositions.

The rich heritage of ancient and eternal Indian knowledge and thought has been a guiding light for this Policy. The pursuit of knowledge (Jnan), wisdom (Pragyaa), and truth (Satya) was always considered in Indian thought and philosophy as the highest human goal. The aim of education in ancient India was not just the acquisition of knowledge as preparation for life in this world, or life beyond schooling, but for the complete realization and liberation of the self. World-class institutions of ancient India such as Takshashila, Nalanda,Vikramshila, Vallabhi, set the highest standards of multidisciplinary teaching and research and hosted scholars and students from across backgrounds and countries. The Indian education system produced great scholars such as Charaka, Susruta, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Bhaskaracharya, Brahmagupta, Chanakya, Chakrapani Datta, Madhava, Panini, Patanjali, Nagarjuna, Gautama, Pingala, Sankardev, Maitreyi, Gargi and Thiruvalluvar, among numerous others, who made seminal contributions to world knowledge in diverse fields such as mathematics, astronomy, metallurgy, medical science and surgery, civil engineering, architecture, shipbuilding and navigation, yoga, fine arts, chess, and more. Indian culture and philosophy have had a strong influence on the world. These rich legacies to world heritage must not only be nurtured and preserved for posterity but also researched, enhanced, and put to new uses through our education system.

The teacher must be at the centre of the fundamental reforms in the education system. The new education policy must help re-establish teachers, at all levels, as the most respected and essential members of our society, because they truly shape our next generation of citizens. It must do everything to empower teachers and help them to do their job as effectively as possible. The new education policy must help recruit the very best and brightest to enter the teaching profession at all levels, by ensuring livelihood, respect, dignity, and autonomy, while also instilling in the system basic methods of quality control and accountability. 

The new education policy must provide to all students, irrespective of their place of residence, a quality education system, with particular focus on historically marginalized, disadvantaged, and underrepresented groups. Education is a great leveler and is the best tool for achieving economic and social mobility, inclusion, and equality. Initiatives must be in place to ensure that all students from such groups, despite inherent obstacles, are provided various targeted opportunities to enter and excel in the educational system.

These elements must be incorporated taking into account the local and global needs of the country, and with a respect for and deference to its rich diversity and culture. Instilling knowledge of India and its varied social, cultural, and technological needs, its inimitable artistic, language, and knowledge traditions, and its strong ethics in India’s young people is considered critical for purposes of national pride, self-confidence, self-knowledge, cooperation, and integration.

Support for Gifted Students/Students with Special Talents

There are innate talents in every student, which must be discovered, nurtured, fostered, and developed. These talents may express themselves in the form of varying interests, dispositions, and capacities. Those students that show particularly strong interests and capacities in a given realm must be encouraged to pursue that realm beyond the general school curriculum. Teacher education will include methods for the recognition and fostering of such student talents and interests. The NCERT and NCTE will develop guidelines for the education of gifted children. B.Ed. programmes may also allow a specialization in the education of gifted children.

Teachers will aim to encourage students with singular interests and/or talents in the classroom by giving them supplementary enrichment material and guidance and encouragement. Topic-centered and Project-based Clubs and Circles will be encouraged and supported at the levels of schools, school complexes, districts, and beyond. Examples include Science Circles, Math Circles, Music & Dance Performance Circles, Chess Circles, Poetry Circles, Language Circles, Drama Circles, Debate Circles, Sports Circles, Eco-Clubs, Health & Well-being Clubs/ Yoga Clubs and so on. Along these lines, high-quality national residential summer programmes for secondary school students in various subjects will also be encouraged, with a rigorous merit-based but equitable admission process to attract the very best students and teachers from across the country including from socio-economically disadvantaged groups.