Skill Vibes: Pause..Reflect..

S kill development lessons from Afghanistan…Surprised!!! Yes. Afghanistan. I will take you through a journey in a series of articles covering one of the best skill development projects ever I have been through. Since the purpose is to share the lessons, I will use the names of the organisations and people involved restrictively. It certainly was a show of detailed coordination between the Governments and various organisations and leadership, courage, innovation and never say die attitude of the team members at all levels. As of now I roll back to the year 2005. The then President of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan along with his Cabinet Ministers came to India for a series of meetings in Feb 2005. The meetings besides the Govt of India were also facilitated by the Indian High Commission at Kabul. One of the apex Industry Associations was entrusted the task of making a presentation to the Afghan President and his team of Ministers on skilling the human resource for re-constructi...

A ssessments are the key to certifying competency. Contrary to a general belief that “Assessment” and taking a "Test” is similar, it is pertinent to mention that assessments are much broader.  A “Test” may check someone’s knowledge to ascertain / establish what the learner has learnt, or it may also establish the level of skill / knowledge acquired. Whereas, “Assessment” process documents skills, knowledge and attitude in a manner which can be measured. The aim of assessment is not to freeze the judgement but to open the window for improvements. The Assessments are governed by a set of principles which must be applied to make the assessments relevant. Just to recapitulate, the Assessment should be: ·          Valid ·          Reliable and Consistent ·          Transparent ·          Inclusive ·     ...

I t is always the learner first. If we keep this in mind, we are less likely to go wrong in making the appropriate policy decisions. One contagious issue bothering the Indian skills eco-system is the decision to induct Multiple Awarding Bodies in addition to the Sector Skill Councils to certify all the qualifications available in the National Qualification Register (NQR). There is no denying that competition is good for the system provided the desirable result is a better-quality assured certification. On the contrary, unhealthy competition can be counterproductive.   The basic / fundamental that must not be lost sight of is the fact that all awarding bodies must follow the same set of rules to design, develop, validate, approve, deliver, assess, certify and monitored the qualification. It is also a fundamental that must not be tempered with is that the Awarding Bodies must design “their” qualifications. The emphasis is on “their” qualifications and not on “borro...

T he growth of the Indian hashtag Skills Development eco-system has been hectic. The space has swelled with people from different professions, many of them with passion for skills development and many just wanting to explore the new grounds. From Govt at all levels on one hand and Industry, Industry Associations, Sector Skill Councils, Training Centres, Trainers, Assessment Bodies, Assessors, Content writers and developers’ Educational institutes including Skill Universities on the other hand. It is natural for people to have varied understanding of fundamentals and principles. The lock-down to contain and fight hashtag COVID-19 has brought in a deliberate pause. This opportunity must be utilised to reflect on some fundamentals for a common understanding and cohesive outcomes in some taken for granted areas like:      (a) understanding the NSQF      (b) understanding and interpreting the Qualifications      (c) understanding the science...