Polishing our ITIs to create new industrial workforce
Since 1950, Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) have been the backbone of vocational education in India. After 2014, the number of ITIs has seen a 47 per cent growth to reach the current 14,993. The annual new enrolment at ITIs has grown from 9.46 lakh in 2014 to 12.4 lakh in 2022.
The fundamental issue of matching the ITIs’ academic calendar with that of general courses has been resolved and 100 per cent of computer-based tests have been introduced. As the economy has changed from a reliance on heavy industries and the public sector to services, so have ITI courses. Out of the total 151 trades (courses) taught, 64 or more than 40 per cent are now in the service sectors. Non-curricular partnerships with IT companies have seen 22 lakh beneficiaries over the last five years.
There is a concerted effort to bring a modern mindset to ITIs. First, all ITI courses have been rationalised to an annual 1,200 hours from the earlier 1,600 hours to align with the National Credit Framework. This will enable academic equivalence and allow the transfer of credits between vocational and general courses. Nineteen new-age skills courses have been introduced in 242 ITIs and another 116 ITIs are now affiliated to start offering drone-related courses.
Under the new affiliation guidelines, the selection of at least one new-age course has been made compulsory out of four trades. Furthermore, to institutionalise deeper industry connections, 978 ITIs are now pursuing a dual system of training that allows learning in industry and classrooms. Thirteen memorandums have been put to work with industry partners for customised curriculums.
To keep up with the digitalisation of learning, the Bharat Skills portal has enabled easy access to books, practice papers, and educational videos in six languages. Launched in October 2019, it has been used by more than 54 lakh users from the ITI system and has been recognised with a national award for e-governance. ITI books have also been translated into 13 languages. Several signalling initiatives, in the form of convocation of ITI pass-outs, Kaushalacharya awards and participation at the WorldSkills competition have also helped energise the skills ecosystem.
Globally, a significant number of students enrol into vocational streams from upper-secondary level onwards. Enrolment in technical and vocational courses in OECD countries is at 42 per cent. The figure in Australia is 49 per cent, Germany 45 per cent, China 42 per cent, Indonesia 44 per cent, Japan 22 per cent and South Korea 18 per cent. As against this, vocational enrolment is estimated at less than 6 per cent in India.
There are various reasons for the low share in India. But the main one is the significance Indian society attaches to vocational education. Not considered an aspirational career, ITIs have suffered from a lack of systemic interventions to improve their infrastructure and appeal. A NITI Aayog evaluation study in 2023 noted the systemic challenges of outdated infrastructure, multi-layered over-regulation, chronic trainer shortage and a curriculum struggling to keep pace with the economy. Another internal study by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship indicates that 120 districts are not yet served and 40 percent of all blocks have limited or no access to ITIs.
While some states have tried to improve ITIs, the general picture shows decades of under-investment and low prioritisation. What is needed is a multi-faceted mission mode encompassing dedicated interventions on awareness and counselling to enhance enrolment, upgradation of labs, building trainer capacity and technology-enabled governance. The remedy may be found within the three axes of infrastructure, deregulation and governance.
Despite chronic under-investment, the ITI system continues to remain relevant for the industrial sector. ITI pass-outs have technical knowledge and a better ability to pick the technicalities of a job, according to a 2020 ministry assessment. ITI-based vocational training shall be more relevant as India positions itself as a manufacturing powerhouse, helped by initiatives like production-linked incentives, indigenisation of defence production and semiconductor manufacturing. The efforts of the last decade, including the STRIVE scheme, have enabled diversity in ITI trades from engineering-only to service-oriented roles as well.
At the macro level, the key fixes needed for the school-to-work transition in India’s labour market is a mindset for application-based learning at the upper-secondary level represented by ITIs and work-based programmes in higher studies. The National Education Policy envisages the integration of vocational and general education, and raising the share of students exposed to vocational education to 50 per cent by 2025. This would require soft and hard investments to create conditions for seamless integration of application-based learning in a continuum with secondary education, vocational education and higher education.
Now may be the best time to scale up last decade’s incremental efforts and reimagine a new skilled industrial workforce for Viksit Bharat to come true.
(Views are personal)
Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship