SkillEd India transforms vocational education through KED Methodology

“I believe that in order to leave the traditional model and enter the NOS-based certification, we need to identify the QPs and job responsibilities, integrate those competencies into the academic system, and ensure that at least 40 credits are required for graduation”, Mr. Rajiv Mathur, CEO, SkillEd India.

To learn about SkillEd India and recall the challenges of NSDC while employing QP-NOS, aligning them with competency levels, and various other things, we had a conversation with Mr. Rajiv Mathur, CEO, SkillEd India, a prominent organization in the ecosystem of skilling and vocational education.

Below are a few excerpts from our conversation. You can watch the full video on our YouTube channel.

Q: Please tell us about SkillEd India?

A: Currently, our organisation goes by two names: KEDMAN, which is our legal name, and SkillEd India, which is the company name. The KEDMAN Company is actually a joint venture between two enormous educational systems. One of these companies is an international school chain in Sweden named Kunskapsskolan, which has more than 200 locations across Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, and India. Together, they collaborate with Manav Rachna University in India. In 2017, Manav Rachna University, Kunskapsskolan, and NSDC made the decision to establish SkillEd India, which I am in charge of. This organization was created with the very specific goal of bringing the Kunskapsskolan education learning methodology to India, particularly in the vocational space.

SkillEd India focuses on four verticals:

1. Ed-Tech: Ready-to-use digital vocational content available to us across various sectors. It has two important components,

• Entirely linked to the QP-NOS (Qualification Pack- National Occupational Standards) and leads to Smart Nation certification that has been recognized by the Sector Skill Council.
• KED learning methodology: Focuses on the learner and offers high-quality content in a thorough full course aligned to QP-NOS.

2. Setting up multi-development centres: – Some of the skill centres we are opening up our CSR-contributing factories with accommodation, while others are skill centres situated near hospitals. The Ked learning methodology produces defined learning.  We also have a foundation named the KEDMAN Skill India Foundation, which accepts Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.

3. Skill development consultancy: – To leave a significant mark in this area, and looking at the large force, we see that they are skilled practitioners. This is an area where progress is made and focuses our attention, and credentials are submitted in order to participate in government consultant programs.

4. Vocationalization of education in schools: – Began introducing the KED learning methodology of Sweden to schools where significant infrastructural changes are made in government schools in particular and working with the alignment of state education boards. This entire initiative was started in 2019 and was able to spread across 17 schools, right now 5000 children are benefiting from it in three sectors: Retail, IT and Beauty and Wellness.

Q: What are the advantages of using the KED learning methodology in private schools?

A: All of the schools around the world use Kunskapsskolan’s KED learning methodology, which is a proprietary learning approach. The learner is placed in the middle of KED learning, and everything is enabled around in such a way that the learner’s entire learning experience is able to reach a particular level where it is enhanced and the outcome of Kunskapsskolan’s learning methodology is significantly higher than the traditional system.

Kunskapsskolan schools have been using digital learning platforms for the past 20 years, digital plays an important role in how training is delivered. Tabs are handed to students as soon as they enter class 1. The integration of multiple areas into the teaching of a given topic helps students grasp the subject from a holistic point of view and how it affects science, social science, business, and other fields.

As it is a very different methodology and, in our system, we have tried to promote education and skill development. Though these things differ from one another, what we have to do is make digital technology the base that allows trainers, students, and everyone else to benefit.

There are three components for the trainees to comprehend:

1. Start It: Conduct a pre-diagnostic to gauge the student’s knowledge.
2. Learn It: The method is referred to as “learning the source,” and it can be done via animation, live-action, or video.
3. Do It: The practical part, whatever has been learnt will be applied here.

Q: How can an organization get in touch with you to associate with SkillEd India?

A: We would be delighted to collaborate with a variety of organizations. We have signed up with a few sector skills councils and significant organizations, including the Association of Health Care Providers in India (AHPI) and the Global Healthcare College in Sweden. In today’s world, working collaboratively is essential if one wants to succeed. In fact, because my experience with the collaborative model of working with others has been so positive, I would encourage anyone who is interested to join us as a partner so that we may establish a presence together.

Q: Please tell us about how it all came about in terms of implementing the Qualification standards, the NSQF, and QP-NOS while you were at NSDC.

A: I joined NSDC in 2012, I learned two things: one must work with the sector skills council to develop the National Occupation Standards (NOS), and standards and quality will be my responsibility. When I first joined NSDC, I conducted a thorough analysis of how few countries, such as the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, were carrying out the task in question. After performing this in-depth research of the sector skills councils’ operations, functions, standard-setting, approval process, and industry validation, I came to the conclusion that there were both good and bad aspects to each of these areas.

This was presented to the NSDC board and the board approved it. As a result, we constructed the entire framework for how QPs will be developed, how NOSs will develop as a component of QPs, and most importantly, how the industry will support it. To address this, we created a procedure, and we noticed that the Qualification Registration Committee (QRC) was the first step of clearing and verifying that all the compliances that we have stipulated are met. Therefore, we specified that ten large, medium, and small companies must endorse each qualification made. In 2013, “Unarmed Security Guard” was the very first QP-NOS to be released. When I left this role and took on a new role in NSDC, almost 2200 qualifications had already been granted and National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) had been notified. We also held a variety of training sessions at numerous places across the country, that is how people learned about NSDC.

Q: How do you envision the future of QP-NOS, frameworks, and built-in competencies?

A: When I was nominated by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to represent the Ministry with the Dr. Kasturi Ranjan Committee, NEP 2020 was established. Since we are all aware that a sector skill council currently conducts assessments based on job roles when NEP emerges, we need to integrate skills into academics and we must create a repository of those NOS for a sector, bring out those competencies, and integrate those into the academic system. Also to check if there is a competency certification process taking place where the competency of a particular sector is recognized.

Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) has four components:

• Core
• Elective
• Open or Global Elective
• Skills

Q: Is there something else you would like to share?

A: One thing I’d like to add is that I believe NSN is qualified to carry it out. I’ve always wished that someone would try to write the history of NSDC since it has some firm historical foundations. If NSN works to create and write the history, I will be pleased to support it, and I’m sure many others would step up to assist as well.