Centre ropes in NCAER to help expand vocational education in CBSE schools

Source: Livemint

What is the News:

Even as the national skill mission failed to expand vocational education in schools, the Union education ministry has recently tied up with the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) will help CBSE schools to expand vocational education & to make skilling programmes more effective in schools

Why Skill India Mission failed?

1. Skill India mission was launched by the government in 2015 under which the flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is managed.
2. PMKVY, launched in various phases, aims to empower India’s youth with employable skills by 2022
3. But the scheme failed to complete its target. It has trained only 6.59mn people against the target of 7.62 mn in the short term category.
4. Similarly, the government has failed to achieve its 70% target of placement of these people.

About the NCAER: 

• It was established in 1956. It is India’s oldest and largest independent, non-profit, economic policy research institute.
• Furthermore, it undertakes grant-funded research and commissioned studies for governments and industry, and is one of the few think tanks globally that also collect primary data.

How NCAER will help to improve vocational education?

• It will help to address the challenges halting the implementation of National Education Policy by identifying the constraints through policy road map and field studies.
• It will provide measures to overcome those constraints and strengthen the skilling programmes in CBSE schools.

Terms to Know

• National Education Policy
• National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER)