Skilling the gaps

Last week, the Union government acknowledged our large skills gap and launched a development mission with the objective of making India a centre for skilled talent. While the passion and dedication of the government is impressive, India still has a steep mountain to climb to achieve its goals for a skilled workforce. The country’s GDP growth rate has nearly halved in the last three years — and the skills gap can be considered one of the major impacting factors.

According to a research report by NCAER, only 10 per cent of people with secondary education in India have access to higher education. A survey by Manpower Group reflects that skills shortages prevent 61 per cent of employers in India from filling job vacancies.

While it is unlikely that traditional models of education will be sufficient, online platforms like MOOCs (massive open online courses) can play a key supporting role. As of 2014, India’s internet user base was the third largest in the world at 300 million, while the number of smartphones in India grew to 100 million (source: IAMAI). With the advent of new technologies like 4G and the rapid proliferation of smarter devices, this growth rate will further increase giving Indians access to online education resources like never before.

An online talent assessment company called Wheebox indicated in its 2014 India Skills Report that just 10 per cent of MBA graduates and 17 per cent of engineering graduates in the country are employable. With online courses, students can take charge of their own learning and ensure their education also prepares them for the workplace. A case in point is Coursera learner Vivek Shangari, a successful entrepreneur from Bengaluru, who took online courses to learn the skills to grow his own business. Vivek had led a difficult life, with his parents’ death forcing him to opt out of regular college. Today he is a big advocate of online learning and attributes his success to it.

With online education, the possibilities are limitless. In just one course session, a professor at the top of a field can reach more students than in an entire career teaching in the classroom. Anyone can choose from thousands of courses and further their learning, often for free. Online education also modernises the learning experience to fit the needs of an internet-savvy generation. Like Netflix did for movies and iTunes for music, MOOCs give people access to skill-building opportunities on demand, exactly when they need it.

In order for any of this to matter, India’s employers and education institutions must help break down old stereotypes in the workplace. For the millions of Indians who don’t have the chance to receive a traditional college degree from a handful of top institutions, career growth is stinted and access to the highest levels of advancement within organisations unattainable. Aspiring professionals can now earn certificates from MOOCs offered by the world’s top institutions. While certainly not a replacement for college education, these certificates are a sign of aptitude, something Indian employers must take notice of.

It is expected that by 2020, India will have one of the youngest populations in the world. To make the most of this young population, now of working age, we must open our minds to new pathways towards career growth. Massive open online courses, with their unlimited capacity to teach millions at scale, can play a key role in this future.

The writer is the India country manager of Coursera

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