Technology for Employability in India
A market and opportunity study of vocational training initiatives in India – both those trying to address the societal problem that only a quarter of college-educated people are sufficiently skilled to be employed by firms in India; and those serving low-income people in need of appropriate educational opportunities to enable them to become employed or entrepreneurial.
Abstract on paper “ICTs for Employability in India”
30% of Indian IT graduates are considered employable in the IT sector, and only 10% of Indian professionals with any kind of degree are employable in multinational companies in India. Employability is a problem in India stemming from insufficient vocational and skills training, and difficulty in obtaining employment. With the recent National Skills Development Policy prescribing greater web-based learning, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be an enabler for employability services.
Sampling ICT usage in employability programs and services, this paper serves as a manual of sorts for entrepreneurs and employability program designers in identifying ways in which ICTs can be used by corporations and NGOs involved in employability. E-learning, mobile-learning, basic audio-visuals and telecentres provide a means for skills training. Training organizations also use IT for office processes and fundraising. Online job portals, mobile job services, freelancing platforms and social networks are some of the ICTs that help in finding employment.
View the slides from a lecture given on “Designing for Employability in India” at Carnegie Mellon University in the class “The Role of Technology in Learning in the 21st Century” in January 2010.