Be Skilled Be Relevant Contest: 10 Best Entries

Sameer Joshi, Chief Business & Alliances Officer, Kohinoor Group,, CEO & Director, Kohinoor Technical Institute Pvt. Ltd.

India is going to be the youngest nation by 2022. Technological disruption in Industry4.0 revolution is making workforce obsolete with their existing skills. While skilling is important, reskilling time to time is critical to engage & enjoy demographic dividend of our country.

Future livelihood opportunities can be classified into 3 categories – Digitized [Tech based], Distributed [Decentralized & Startups] and Decarbonized [Renewable Energy & Waste Management]. One should think of those skills that will be aligned in these areas to gain a sustainable livelihood.

Three-layered Skill Pyramid based on 200 hours of industry linked training will help –

• Foundation layer focusing on EXPERT SKILLS of the industry that are function specific, creating expertise in any of the above 3 categories.
• Second layer of ESSENTIAL SKILLS like digital and financial literacy in context of Industry4.0.
• Uppermost layer of SOCIAL SKILLS covering language skills, networking skills, image building skills.

Surely, this should be a continuous process to help workforce to sharpen their abilities & enhance their capabilities in response to the changing needs.

“Be a lifelong student” as said by Indra Nooyi is so true! The only way to remain relevant in future is to adapt to “unlearn/learn new skills” as way of life.

Sapna Rawat, MIS Executive, Laurus Edutech

Skill refers to the ability to do something well and different. As we know in the current era everyone wants to be successful and self relevant but because focus is on only theoretical subjects, student cannot grow practically. We, as individuals, should strive for professional and personal excellence by not only acquiring new skills but also bringing our inner skills out. For this purpose, self-motivation is a prerequisite condition. In addition in our learning process, teachers should teach through task-based teaching methods, group-work and projects, so that the learners may have a hands-on experience of learning. The focus should not be on memorizing, but on practically applying knowledge. Introduction to skill training at a young age will by all means give the students such an opportunity to explore various options and accordingly improve their skills. By using our skills we can become independent and self employed members of the society. Jobs are thus created for unemployed youths in various skill sectors and being skilled is thus the factor that is necessary to fill in the position.

Ummaiya Salma, Senior Content Executive, LabourNet Services India Pvt Ltd

Equipping oneself with skills and getting identified as an appropriate candidate is the need of the hour as far as one’s employment/career growth is concerned.

If skill is so very important then what is the role of talent in an individual’s life? Well, the answer to this question lies in understanding the difference between talent and skill. ‘Talent’ is a ‘natural ability’ of an individual whereas ‘skill’ is an ‘acquired ability’ obtained via learning and practice.

So far, we have been concentrating on building education. Least or no importance was given to the employability skills. Irrespective of the growth of so many educational institutions, our education system has not proved efficient in employing the youth of our country.

A survey states that 62% of the Indian population falls under the working age group and the unemployment rate has touched 3.4% (2017-2018). Hence, it’s high time for us to understand that the skills act as driving force behind the country’s community development. In short, if degree programmes as a part of your regular education can make you an eligible candidate then skills can make you a suitable candidate for the job.

Team NSN wishes to thank the judges Ms. Archana Sali, Principal Communications, CA Technologies and Ms. Brunda Murthy, Senior Consultant, National Skills Network and the team of reviewers.