TVET policies for ensuring effective skills development of marginalised youths in India

Impact of research beyond academia

Our research foregrounds the constraints faced by young people in India’s TVET programmes in classroom learning and labour market transition. We emphasise the urgency of TVET reformation which facilitates sustainable social mobility and employment securities for young students and not merely transforming them into a cheap and precarious workforce. Our research thus adduce the potential of vocational education for crafting conscious citizen-subjects with life skills necessary to flourish in India’s New Economy rather than creating exploitable labouring bodies. This leads us to introduce issues of political empowerment, agency claims and inclusion of marginalised groups within the narrowly defined human capital perspectives on skill training in India. This research has:  

  •  Highlighted the limitations of skill training in the context of marginalised students through Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCC&I) and state level TVET departments. Building on our research, BCC&I in collaboration with the West Bengal government is developing innovative training modules related to employability skills.  Maitra was also invited by NSDC, the biggest skill training organisation under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, to be part of the special Community of Practice focused on improving TVET in India. 
  • Changed skill training practices of TVET trainers by building greater awareness about socio-economic inequalities.  With input from the research team, a gender, class, caste sensitive awareness toolkit is being developed collaboratively with the trainers (15) for wider dissemination across the country.      
  • Increased participation of young marginalised students in skill training debates by encouraging students (50) to voice their experiences and recommendations through seminars and workshops (5) as critical forms of shared knowledge dissemination. This is an emerging form of experiential learning in India’s vocational education where students engage with trainers, employers and policymakers about the socioeconomic barriers impacting their classroom learning and labour market transition.