Initiating Peace Building in the Minds of Men and Women through

Skills Development

Anup Kumar DasJawaharlal Nehru University

New Delhi

Reflection from Recent Government Initiatives in India

Presented at the Global Peace and Harmony Conference (GPHC-2013), JNU, India, 21 September 2013.

Context• 1 in 6 people around the world are aged 15-24. They are

disproportionately concentrated in the world’s poorest countries.

• 1 in 5 young people in developing countries have not completed primary school.

• 1 in 8 young people are unemployed. They haven’t got the skills needed for work.

• 1 in 4 young people earn less than $1.25 per day.

What Skills Are Needed?

Foundation Skills: are the first steps in education; they are basic skills such as reading, writing and mathematics, which can be gained in primary and lower secondary school. These are prerequisites for continuing in education. For those who miss out on learning these skills, second chance programmes are a way to gain them when older. Transferable Skills: refer to a wide variety of skills, such as problem solving, entrepreneurship and communication skills, which are essential for productive jobs. They can be obtained throughout education. These skills allow young people to adapt to different work environments.Technical and Vocational Skills: are specific practical skills such as metalwork, ICT, sewing and farming, that prepare a youth for a particular job. They are learned at higher levels of education and formal and informal on-the-job training such as apprenticeships.

Disadvantaged Youth

Many young people around the world leave school without the skills they need for work and life. They are deprived of their right to have access to learning opportunities, due to poverty, conflict, disabilities, their social status, their gender, or where they live.The various groups of young people, who cannot experience the basic right of learning the skills needed for work, include.

• Rural poor• Urban poor• Young women• Young people affected by conflict• Marginalized minorities• Young people with disabilities• Young people with HIV and AIDS

Where do people live in extreme poverty?•30% Urban, 70% Rural; Around 70% of the world's 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty inhabit rural areas (EFA GMR 2012)

Disadvantaged Youth

Disadvantaged youth require following skills:•Skills needed to work on modern technologically enhanced farms. (Rural)•Increasingly land-scarcity means that non-farm jobs are more important than ever. Non-farm jobs require business and finance skills.•Urban disadvantaged youths engage in informal sector, including waste-picking, street vending, sewing, garment making, domestic help, etc. •They require technical skills for alternate and more sustainable vocation such as plumber, electrician, carpenter, tailor, security guard, computer operator, etc. Many of them also require business and finance skills for self-employment.

Steps To A Better Future1. Provide second-chance education for those with low or no foundation

skills2. Tackle the barriers that limit access to lower secondary school3. Make upper secondary education more accessible to the disadvantaged

and improve its relevance to work4. Give poor urban youth access to skills training for better jobs5. Aim policies and programmes at youth in deprived rural areas6. Link skills training with social protection for the poorest youth7. Make the training needs of disadvantaged young women a high priority8. Harness the potential of technology to enhance opportunities for young

people9. Improve planning by strengthening data collection and coordination of

skills programmes10. Mobilize additional funding from diverse sources dedicated to the

training needs of disadvantaged youth

Steps to A Better Future: Examples in India

1. Provide second-chance education for those with low or no foundation skills

2. Tackle the barriers that limit access to lower secondary school

3. Make upper secondary education more accessible to the disadvantaged and improve its relevance to work

4. Give poor urban youth access to skills training for better jobs

5. Aim policies and programmes at youth in deprived rural areas

6. Link skills training with social protection for the poorest youth

7. Make the training needs of disadvantaged young women a high priority

8. Harness the potential of technology to enhance opportunities for young people

9. Improve planning by strengthening data collection and coordination of skills programmes

10. Mobilize additional funding from diverse sources dedicated to the training needs of disadvantaged youth

1. Open Schooling; National Literacy Mission

2. Mid-day Meal scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Right of Education (RTE) Act

3. Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, Vocational Education in Schools, Open Schooling

4. National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NURM)

5. Aajeevika - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM)

6. Vocational Training Centres for Women (under NVTS, NRLM, NURM)

7. Placement-linked training in NRLM, NURM

8. Aakash Tablet PC; Digital Learning Centres for disadvantaged youths

9. MIS and data dissemination for NRLM , RTE, etc.

10. Education Cess and other planned budget• Every ₹ 1 spent on education generates ₹ 10-15 in economic growth (EFA GMR 2012).

Aajeevika Skill Development Programme (ASDP)

Target: Rural youth age group of 17-35 years from below poverty line (BPL) families.

Concluding Remarks

• Skills development of marginalised youth belonging to below poverty line (BPL) families or left-wing extremism (LWE) affected districts, or a group of school dropouts is very critical for inclusive growth and national development.

• Meaningful and socially productive engagement of youth is assured through targeted skills development Missions.

• Skills development also helps in coping up hardship a majority of these marginalized population felt due to historical reasons of social injustice, displacement and exploitation their forefathers experienced for centuries.

• Skills building also helps in socio-economic empowerment of targeted communities and peace building in the minds of young citizens.

References

• OECD and ILO (2011), Job-rich Growth in Asia: Strategies for local employment, skills development and social protection, OECD Publishing, Paris.

• Planning Commission (2007), Report of the Task Force on Skill Development, Planning Commission, New Delhi.

• UNESCO (2012), Youth and Skills: Putting Education to Work, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2012, UNESCO Publishing, Paris.

• Youth of the World (2012), Be skilled, Be Employed, Be the Change Generation: Youth Version of the 2012 Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO Publishing, Paris.

• World Bank (2013), World Development Report 2013: Jobs, World Bank, Washington D.C.

• Thank You