Facts:
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Over 70 percent of India’s workforce is concentrated in firms with less than 20 employees.
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Studies carried out in 2016 as part of an Asian Development Bank report suggest that micro-firms are 72 percent less likely to train their workers.
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While 80 percent of India’s workforce is employed in informal firms, only 3 percent of workers are formally trained.
Advantages of integrating education with skill development:
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Imparting holistic skills can help make school-to-work transition smoother.
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Recognising and imparting technical skills can make education more attuned to market and employer demand.
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In addition, integration of education and skilling pathways can ensure that learners who enter the workforce with limited school education receive training that is crucial to succeeding in the labour market.
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With the increased contractualisation of labour, the incentives for formal firms to train workers are declining even more. In such a situation, the primary and foremost opportunity to skill young people are when they are still a part of the educational system.
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Integrating education with skilling is therefore the easiest path forward.