Need And Importance Of Skill Development In Formal Education PDF

NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN FORMAL EDUCATION KAMALAKAR BABURAO GAIKWAD Assistant Professor in English Ar...

NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN FORMAL EDUCATION KAMALAKAR BABURAO GAIKWAD Assistant Professor in English Arts and Commerce College, Yeola. Dist-Nashik. (MS) INDIA In today’s globalized era, Skill development is the basic necessity for self-employment and entrepreneurship. Indeed, it is the need of the hour for the economic development of 21st Century India. Today, every child must be imparted vocational education as a part of the curriculum. Education is the proper tool through which skill development is possible. It can make the all-round development of the individual. Vocational classes should be imparted as a part of the curriculum. By doing so, the cost of skill development can be reduced. Moreover, children can learn fast than the more grown up adults. When these children become adults, they can earn their own livelihood. They can learn the value of money and the taste of earning by their own sweat and brow. Besides, these children can learn some basic marketing strategies. It should be done under the supervision of a teacher. Schools should be established and the existing schools should be remodeled as sort of industrial schools. Here, industrial school refers to a school where both academic and vocation education are given. It best suits for the residential schools. However, it can be adjusted and practiced with other schools too. The present paper demonstrates the need and importance of skill development. It also focus on the different aspects such as skills, necessity of skill development, life skills which helps to get employability. Key Words: Skills, Skill development, Importance of Life Skills, self-employment, entrepreneurship etc. WHAT IS SKILL? A skill is the ability to perform a task in a competent manner within a prescribed span, energy, or both. Skills can be classified as general and specific. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills consists of time management, teamwork, leadership, self- KAMALAKAR BABURAO GAIKWAD 1P a g e motivation etc. Whereas specific skills are required only for a particular job. Skill requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level of skill being shown and used.  Types of Skills: 1. Functional Skills: In these skills, the actions are taken to perform a task. They are transferable to different work. They are based on ability and aptitude. They denote the functions like to organize, to promote, to analyze etc. 2. Personal Traits Skills: It contributes personal traits or attitudes such as patience, diplomacy, result-orientation and independence to perform work. It is developed in childhood and through life experience. 3. Knowledge Based Skills: These skills can be acquired through education, training and on the job experience. They help to perform a particular task. The person should have the knowledge of specific subjects, procedures etc. 4. Labour Skills: Skilled workers are active, energetic and economically productive. They are of great demand in abroad due to their caliber, potential and skills. 5. Life Skills: An ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort to smoothly and adaptively carryout complex activities involving ideas (cognitive skills), things (technical skills), and/or people (interpersonal skills). 6. People Skills: It is the ability to communicate effectively with people in a friendly way, especially in business. It includes both social and psychological skills. People skills means to understand ourselves and to moderate our responses, to talk effectively and empathize accurately and to build relationships of trust, respect and productive interactions. KAMALAKAR BABURAO GAIKWAD 2P a g e 7. Social Skills: It is any sort of skill which facilitates interaction and communication with others. In social skills, social rules and relations are created, communicated and changed in verbal and non- verbal ways. 8. Soft Skills: The combination of interpersonal skills, social skills, communication skills, character traits, attitudes, career attributes and emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ) among others. 9. Hard Skills: Hard skills are any skills relating to a specific task or situation.  What is Skill Development Programme? Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE). The objective of this Skill Certification Scheme is to enable a large number of Indian youth to take up industry- relevant skill training that will help them in securing a better livelihood.  Why Skill Development is necessary? In today's age of globalization, skill building is the significant tool to increase the strength and quality of labour for improved productivity and economic growth. Skills and knowledge development are the essential forces behind the financial growth and community development of any country. Skill building is a powerful equipment to empower individuals and improve their social acceptance. It must be complemented by economic growth and employment opportunities to meet the rising aspirations of youth. It is an important ingredient to push the production possibility front line outward and to take growth rate of the economy to a higher route. The challenge lies not only in a huge quantitative expansion of facilities for skill training, but also in raising their quality. India can then become the global sourcing hub for skilled employees. India’s target is to become a global economic powerhouse. In order to attain this goal, it should equip its workforce with employable skills and knowledge. Honourable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modiji addressed to the nation at the outset of Independence Day 2014 speech, (https://www.linkedin.com/.../why-skill-development- necessary-india-jayashree-patnaik) KAMALAKAR BABURAO GAIKWAD 3P a g e “Today, the world and India need a skilled workforce. If we have to promote the development of our country then our mission has to be `skill development’ and `Skilled India’. Millions and Millions of Indian youth should acquire the skills which could contribute towards making India a modern country. I also want to create a pool of young people who are able to create jobs and the ones who are not capable of creating jobs and do not have the opportunities, they must be in a position to face their counterparts in any corner of the world while keeping their heads high by virtue of their hard work and their expertise of hands and win the hearts of people around the world through their skills. We want to go for the capacity building of such young people.”  The Importance of Life Skills: In a constantly changing environment, life skills play an important role to meet the challenges of everyday life. The dramatic changes in global economies over the past five years have been matched with the transformation in technology and these are all impacting on education, the workplace and our home life. To cope with the increasing pace and change of modern life, students need new life skills such as the ability to deal with stress and frustration. Today’s students will have many new jobs over the course of their lives, with associated pressures and the need for flexibility. Life Skills are important at three levels: for the individual, for employment and for society. 1. For the Individual: In everyday life, the development of life skills helps students to: find new ways of thinking and problem solving, to identify the impact of their actions and teach them to shoulder the responsibility, to build confidence and to analyze options and to make decisions and to develop a sense of self awareness and appreciation for others. 2. For employment: It’s simply disgusting fact that our students get good marks/grades still struggle for employment. The recruiters evaluate their academic success (hard skills) as well as employability skills (soft skills). The employability skills consist of: time management, ability to self- manage, working as a part of team, adaptability to different roles, the potential to lead by influence and ability to understand the business environment. 3. For society: It is rightly said that: KAMALAKAR BABURAO GAIKWAD 4P a g e “The more we develop life skills individually, the more these affect and benefit the world in which we live”. While dealing with the society, the students should recognize cultural awareness. They must respect diversity which allows creativity and imagination. It ultimately results in developing a tolerant society. In order to build resolutions, it is the prime duty of students to develop negotiating skills and to empathize.  Importance of Skill Development in School Education: Skill development is necessary from a young age so that India can create ideal employees in the 21st century. In the changing world scenario with regard to industry and the job market, there is now an overpowering need for skilled workers. In order to enhance the employability of today’s youth, it is most important to educate and train them to acquire the skills. As per market survey, about 90 per cent of employment opportunities require vocational skills. Only 20 per cent of our graduates get employed. The rest are unable to get suitable employment due to the lack of employable skills. In the present context of globalization, the demand for skilled and multi skilled workers has increased. Therefore in the context of developing countries, such as India, there is a critical need for quality skill development and training. Some of the prominent employable skills that employers seek are: communication skills (verbal and written), commercial awareness, attitude towards work, lifelong learning, self- management, teamwork, problem solving, initiative, self-motivation, adaptability, stress management, creativity, interpersonal sensitivity, technology/IT skills etc. Dr. Lakshmi Mohan, Campus Head, ITM Business School asserts, “The pedagogy has to be practical, learning can be enhanced through field visits, e-learning, industry driven projects, digital inputs and so on.”  How to carry out Skill Development in School Education: Integration of skill development and education is essential for skilling to take wings. It has to be imparted in schools and colleges alongside academics. Introduction to skill training at a young age will by all means give the student an opportunity to explore various options. 1. At school level, there must be options available for skill development courses and they must be provided in the secondary stage of schooling 2. Many more courses in fields such as Hospitality and Tourism, Handicraft, Healthcare, Textiles, Photography, IT, Retail, Banking, Insurance can be added that would interest students to learn from. KAMALAKAR BABURAO GAIKWAD 5P a g e  Quality of ‘Skill India’: 1. The aim of Skill India is to guide the youths in a manner so that they get employment or start their own business. 2. Skill India provide scope not only for the upcoming generation but it also provides training options for the traditional type occupations such as carpenters, welders, cobblers, tailors, nurse etc. 3. Skill India provides need-based programmes for the certain age groups which can be the communication or language skills, personality development skills, behavioral skills and job-employability skills.  CONCLUSION: Due to the competition in global economy, industries and firms in developed and developing countries look for an employee with higher level of skills, who can engage in innovative task, can improve the quality and services of their company. It is the need of hour to improve the mental and physical development of the Indian youth so that they can be employed and move forward towards the targeted results. As the Indian youth is the ‘future’ of the country so they should also be skilled enough to create a ‘future’. 1. Cowan, Ruth Schwartz. ‘A Social History of American Technology’. New York, Oxford University Press, 1997. 2. Rifkin, H. ‘Invest in People Skills to boost bottom line’ Retrieved in 2009. 3. Dictionary.com definition, 2009 4. www.investopedia.com/terms/hard-skills.asp 5. Ryu, Cheong-San. ‘Educational Significance of Soft Skills and Hard Skills’ The Journal of Korean Practical Arts Education, 2017, p.23(1) KAMALAKAR BABURAO GAIKWAD 6P a g e