Dr. Debajyoti Goswami
(goswamidj@yahoo.in)
The Viksit Bharat @2047 initiative envisions India as a developed nation by the centenary of its independence in 2047. This transformative roadmap emphasizes inclusive development, sustainable progress, and effective governance. Viksit Bharat seeks to catalyse widespread action on across five priority areas viz. education; employment & entrepreneurships; youth leaderships & development; heath, fitness & sports; and social justice. Each priority area is underpinned by principle of social inclusion of the people of India.
Education is the most critical enabler for youth to acquire knowledge as well as the capabilities necessary to make the most of all opportunities throughout life. Education also enables youth to contribute positively and participate fully in society. Beyond academic knowledge, young people need quality education that also imparts critical career and life skills and enables the holistic development of these individuals, socialised to societal norms.The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) prescribes additional recommendations to strengthen the quality and relevance of education and provide for an equitable education system. The NEPprioritises ensuring universal access to education till class 12 prescribing reformin curriculum and pedagogy, infusing education with technology and reimagining vocational education. It also makes provisions for the reintegration of dropouts and out of-school children (15 to 18 years) and introducing schemes for adult literacy and lifelong learning.It is opined that future jobs in the 21st century will require new skill sets and the youth of the country will have to reskill and upskill regularly. The relevant Central Ministries/Departments and State Government agencies need to review and upgrade education and skilling curriculum and methodologies for teaching and learning periodically to prepare youth for future jobs. The development of 21st-century skills is essential for young people to navigate the world. These skills include inter-personal communication, collaboration, critical thinking, design thinking, problem-solving, dealing with change and more.
ICT, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and advanced technical skills, including deep digital literacy, data and analytics and financial literacy, that have become mainstays of the current time. These skills will be integrated as a core part of the curriculum for secondary and higher education. Therefore, the relevant ministries should come forward to encourage to students of educational institutions to review the scope and depth of the topics currently covered in syllabus to make room for these essential skills voluntarily and the institutions should be aggrieved to ask all the help from such relevant ministries.Aligned with the NEP ( National Education Policy ) 2020 , the NYP ( National Youth Policy ) 2021 envisages an education system that ensures holistic learning and development of all segments of youth by making education relevant for those in secondary and higher education, supporting the segment of youths “not in education, employment or training” (NEET), and by building an inclusive education system that leverages technology for enhanced ‘teaching-learning’ experiences for youths from disadvantaged and marginalised communities.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0, or 4IR is often called as the next phase in manufacturing. It is characterized by smart technologies and automation, which allow manufacturers to produce goods more efficiently, quickly, cheaply and/or sustainably. In this phase, the “cyber-physical” space is growing – computers and systems is increasingly stay connected and helping in making decisions without human involvement.Disruptive technologies (innovations that significantly change how consumers, industries or business operate)are radically change jobs and lead to upskilling and reskilling needs in the workforce. The industry’s role in skill creation is important for India’s Viksit Bharat @2047 vision, which aims to make India a developed nation by 2047.Enhancing digital literacy, improving teacher quality, and fostering industry-academia linkages can be the objective of the educational institutions. Technological innovations, including artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain, are explored as transformative tools for modernizing education and skill development.
The buzz in Indian engineering industry is semiconductors. Ambitious government initiatives and private investments have wrought promise of lakhs, if not millions, of jobs. With an objective of strategic policy interventions and public-private partnerships to bridge existing gaps and align India’s education system with global demands, the Assam government is planning to set up 70 new ITIs in the”unserved” constituencies of Assam.With a vision to forge strong collaborations between the government and industry, the Skill Employment and Entrepreneurship Department hosted the Industry Meet, 2024. The event witnessed the participation of representatives from more than 150 leading industries. A series of discussions culminated in the signing of Memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with organisations, including Scientech, Festo, Honda CSR, ABB, and Janatics. These partnerships aim to enhance technical training, foster employ- ment opportunities, and strengthen Assam’s skill development ecosystem.In the event it was aimed to explore innovative solutions to bolster Assam’s skill education sector and equip the State’s youth for contemporary workforce demands.The event aimed to explore innovative solutions to bolster Assam’s skill education sector and equip the State’s youth for contemporary workforcedemands. Assam has occupied an economic strategic position as the gateway to ASEAN and Southeast Asia. With industry support, Assam can become the growth engine of the nation. With the advantage of youthful demographic characteristics, HEIs in the state and the other stake holder associated ,may pursue some exercise for prioritising skill development to address the unemployment issue. Government should put some effort for collaborations with leading organisations such as TATA Technologies etc or making transformation of existing ITIs into centres of excellence.
Conducting industrial meet plays a significant role in Assam’s journey for becoming a hub of skill development and economic growthby setting a new land mark for government and industry partnerships in the country.Thus, industry-led skill education can help pull out a talented pipeline by training students in accordance with industry needs and such practices an do help to driven away of the feeble period of medium-term growth to make India a developed nation by “Viksit Bharat @2047”, the 100th year of independence.