To raise awareness on the importance of investing in youth skills development, the United Nations celebrates World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) on July 15 every year.

World Youth Skills Day was first celebrated in 2015. The theme for this year is ‘Skills for a Resilient Youth’.

Significance of this day amid pandemic

World Youth Skills Day 2020 takes place in a challenging context. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures have led to the worldwide closure of technical and vocational education and training institutions, threatening the continuity of skills development.

It is estimated that nearly 70 per cent of the world’s learners are affected by school closures across education levels currently. 

Prior to the current crisis, young people aged 15-24 were three times more likely than adults to be unemployed and often faced a prolonged school-to-work transition period. 

In post-COVID-19 societies, as young people are called upon to contribute to the recovery effort, they will need to be equipped with the skills to successfully manage evolving challenges and the resilience to adapt to future disruptions.

The World Youth Skills Day is an opportunity for young people, technical and vocational education and training institutions, and public and private sector stakeholders to acknowledge and celebrate the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.

Skill India Mission

July 15 also marks the fifth anniversary of the launch of the National Skill Development Mission.

In his message, PM Narendra Modi exhorted the youth to skill, reskill and upskill in order to remain relevant in the rapidly changing business environment and market conditions. Addressing a virtual event, he said skill is timeless and it keeps getting better with time and it makes you different from others.

Skill India is an initiative of the government which has been launched to empower the youth of the country with skill sets which make them more employable and more productive in their work environment. 

The Mission has been developed to create convergence across sectors and states in terms of skill training activities. 

Further, to achieve the vision of ‘Skilled India’, the National Skill Development Mission not only consolidates and coordinates skilling efforts, but also expedites decision making across sectors to achieve skilling at scale with speed and standards.

National Skill Mission is chaired by PM Modi. A ministry for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) was formed to focus on enhancing employability of the youth through skill development.

Key institutional mechanisms for achieving the objectives of the Mission have been divided into three tiers, which consist of:

1) A governing council for policy guidance at apex level.

2) A Steering Committee.

3) A Mission Directorate (along with an executive committee) as the executive arm of the Mission. 

The Mission Directorate is supported by three other institutions: National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Directorate General of Training (DGT). 

Major achievements of Skill India:

* Over 92 lakh people benefitted from Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). 

* More than 720 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs) have been established  to support skill development infrastructure in the country. These are state of the art centres of skilling with latest pedagogy and use of technology.

* MSDE recognises and certifies skills acquired through informal means through its Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme under PMKVY, bringing about a major shift from unorganised sector to an organised economy. So far more than 50 lakhs people have been certified and formally recognised under the programmes.

* MSDE introduced a scheme called National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) in August 2016 to promote this most sustainable model of skill development and industry connect. More than 7 lakh apprenticeship trainings have been conducted so far.

* MSDE has also introduced the Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana (PM-YUVA) which aims to educate and equip potential and early stage entrepreneurs and catalyse a cultural shift to support aspiring entrepreneurs. 

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