Bridging the Skills Gap: A National Imperative

Bridging the Skills Gap: A National Imperative

When I was in conversation with someone about the current rate of unemployment in our country and the difficulties our youth are facing to secure a job. There was always digression / disagreement on a few things, but finally some clarity emerged about Education and skill gap that is bothering everyone.

Here are some of the statistics that are alarming to take a call on a ‘War Footing’ basis:

• 9 out of 10 are stuck in low-competency jobs
• 88 % of workforce are engaged in low-skill & low-competency occupation
• 25% graduates are ONLY in roles matching their qualifications
• 23% of graduates are skills level 4 jobs who are grossly under-utilized
• 12 post-graduates are in mid-skill occupations

Courtesy: News published on July 2, Times Nation Times of India, Chennai Edition by Institute of Competitiveness, India’s affiliate of Institute of Strategy & Competitiveness at Harvard University.

There are a few things that we spoke which can’t be brought into the public domain. One of the concluding points was, the graduating youths are struggling to acquire any skill resulting in employers end up spending at least 6 months before they can be productive.

Who owns the problem?

Where shall we start to find a solution?

I think it is imperative to go back to basics.

I have always intrigued by these three words which we use interchangeably in our conversation.

Learn, Educate and Skill.

More than educating our youth, more than putting them through rigorous competitive exams, more than pushing them to get into premium institutions, more than influencing them to get high-paying jobs, what we FAIL to understand is the challenge of employing even about 30 % of students graduating from educational institutes.

This problem MUST be given the HIGHEST PRIORITY by all stake-holders to find a solution.

This “skills gap” in the industry has become a perennial problem and number of initiatives by large enterprises, Govt agencies, Pvt. Players (e-learning platforms) are NOT enough to fill the gap.

This is a profound and timely reflection on the interlinked crisis of education, learning, and skilling — particularly in the context of youth employability and economic productivity.

Let’s decipher the various elements, thoughts and insights into a coherent, impactful DEFNITIVE ACTIONS — while also offering clarity on the core problem, structural issues, and potential policy and institutional reforms.

Bridging the Skills Gap: A National Imperative

The Crisis We Face

Across boardrooms, college canteens, government panels, and even casual conversations, one theme echoes persistently:

Our graduates are struggling to get employed. And employers are struggling to find employable talent.

 

This paradox is not due to lack of job openings or ambition. It stems from a growing disconnect between what is taught and what is needed — commonly termed as the “Skills Gap.”

Despite numerous initiatives — from government-sponsored skilling programs to enterprise-led bootcamps and flourishing ed-tech platforms — the problem persists. Why?

Let’s break it down by understanding three pillars of capability:
👉 Learning, 👉 Educating, 👉 Skilling.

Decoding the Trio: Learn, Educate, Skill

Term	Focus	Who	Nature	Outcome
Learn	Gaining knowledge or ability	Learner (self-driven or guided)	Personal,  exploratory	Understanding
Educate	Imparting structured knowledge	Educator / Institution	Formal, curriculum-bound	Awareness, theory
Skill	Ability to apply knowledge in real-world context	Individual (via learning + practice)	Practical, experiential	Competence

 

Example:

• I learn how to play the flute/veena from a master.
• The master educates me on the techniques and theory including the nuances of giving live performance on a stage.
• Over time, I developed the skill to perform confidently on the stage.

In a typical university set-up when a boy/girl enrolls for an engg. degree / commerce course/ economics/ statistics, they are expected to learn, educate and acquire some skills that they can put to use in their professional environment.

e.g. Preparation of Annual Financial Budget, Conducting a primary survey, Analyzing financial statements

I think we only have to recall the famous aphorism called
“University Ends, Education Begins”.

What Went Wrong?

1. Misaligned curricula
   Universities often lag behind industry in updating syllabi. Technologies evolve, but our courses remain static, theoretical, or redundant.
2. Over-Governance, Under-Accountability
   Policy mandates (AICTE/UGC/etc.) tend to promote compliance over creativity. Excessive regulation in curriculum design leaves little room for contextual, industry-linked education.
3. Disjointed Learning Ecosystem
   Learning is rarely reinforced through experiential practice. Internships, real-world projects, apprenticeships are exceptions, not norms.
4. Policy Paralysis or Policy Overload?
   We either have too little change or too many schemes with low on-ground impact (e.g., overlapping skilling missions, unmonitored MoUs with industries).
5. Accountability Vacuum
   Who owns the “skilling outcome”?
   • Is it the student?
   • The institute that grants degrees?
   • The employer who recruits?
   • Or the state?

The answer: All of them — but none are held accountable in any structured way.

What MUST We Do?

1. Reorient the Purpose of Education

• Education must evolve from content delivery to capability building.
• Outcome-based education (OBE) with embedded skill-application must become the norm.

2. Create Accountability for Skill Outcomes

Institutes should be rated not just on placements, NAAC assessment ratings. But on skill proficiency scores of students. Introduce “skill audits” similar to academic exams.

3. Mandate Structured Apprenticeships

Make internships/apprenticeships compulsory from the second year onwards in technical and professional degrees. Industry should be incentivized to absorb interns via tax breaks or CSR credits.

4. Promote Industry-Led Curriculum Councils

Every university or cluster of colleges should have a governing board with industry practitioners who co-own the curriculum refresh every four years.

5. Empower Learners with Self-Learning Frameworks

True learning is self-driven. Encourage learner autonomy via project-based assessments, skill hackathons, digital portfolios (GitHub, Behance, Kaggle, etc.)

6. Fund Skilling-as-a-Service

Just as SaaS transformed software, a Skilling-as-a-Service (SaaS) model can allow students to subscribe to just-in-time, role-specific training from global experts. Many E-Learning companies may play a very significant role in this. (Vedantu, Veranda, Udemy, Skillshare)

To the Final Question: Whose Responsibility is Skilling?

It is a shared responsibility — but we must make roles crystal clear.

Stakeholder	Responsibility
Individual	Own your learning journey. Seek, adapt, practice.
Educational Institution	Provide foundational knowledge and a platform for applied learning.
Industry/Employers	Articulate skill demands clearly and partner in pre-employment skilling.
Government	Enable, regulate, and monitor outcome-linked funding and institutional accountability.

 

 

 

 

In Conclusion

Let’s remember:

“A degree is not a skill. A certificate is not a competence. Learning is not automatic and finally to acquire a skill, one need to devote quality time even in the AI age”

We need a national movement.

Not another scheme.

To revamp our education-to-employment pipeline.

Reservation in education and uplifting marginalized society is an act of parliament,

Right to Education is enacted as a law in parliament.

Why not everyone qualified is able to secure a job?

Is it not a paradox?

How are we going to employ at least 50% of people coming out of Edu. Institution ?

Let this not just be a conversation among friends.

Let this spark a transformation.