Skills Development for Youth in India : Challenges and Opportunities <Special Issue : Youth, Education, and Work>

This paper reviews the current state of education, skills development, and employment for Indian youth, and considers the challenges facing India's skills development system. Drawing from the experience of Karnataka, one of India's most industrially developed states, the paper discusses recent initiatives to facilitate young people's transition to the world of work. In India, young people who will soon be entering the labor market, constitute the largest segment of the demographic structure. The majority of young people have limited access to education and training, and most find work in the informal sector. In recent years India has rapidly expanded the capacity of educational institutions and enrollments, but dropout rates remain high, and educational attainment remains low. While India has a well-institutionalized system of vocational training, it has not sufficiently prepared its youth with the skills that today's industries require. Thus, to speed its economic growth and take advantage of its "demographic dividend," the country has recently embarked on drastic policy reforms to accelerate skills development. These reforms have led to important changes, both in the national institutional framework and at the institutional level.