Never before in India has a demographic dividend been so strong. India has more than 50% of its population under the age of 25 and over 65% under the age of 35. The average age of an Indian is expected to be 29 by 2020, compared with 37 for China and 48 for Japan; and, by 2030, India’s dependency ratio should be just over 0.4. As the already developed world is ageing, the engines of further growth will need to be handed over to the young.
However, there are not enough schools that can hone the skills of this massive pool of human capital that can be absorbed to boost industrial productivity. The Indian government is trying to help with initiatives like Skill India, which aims to give students vocational training to learn skills that can make them useful to the world. However, old and ongoing initiatives like NCVT can produce the real skill that can boost the nation’s overall industrial productivity. The National Vocational Training Council, which comes under the Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship, can produce qualified technicians in mechanical, electrical, civil and other engineering disciplines. They are easily employable and can greatly boost the underperforming industrial sector. The hope of getting a government job or Sarkari Naukri as it is called locally can easily come true through this route.
NCVT does not require any high educational qualification for enrollment and secondary or high school education is considered sufficient here. The selection process is transparent and jobs are almost guaranteed. The Indian economy benefits from the cheap technical labor available to it. The admission test for this program is given twice a year (February and July) and the NCVT MIS result is declared in the first week of April and the first week of November of each year.
More details about the NCVT enrollment process, admission cards, schedules and results are provided below: ncvtmis.gov.in
This vocational training program has the potential to create a very large reservoir that can become a growth engine for the industrial economy that India currently lacks. This would not only provide the industry with skilled labor, but would also solve a huge employment problem, the absence of which can divert young minds down paths no one wants to follow.