Dharmendra Pradhan spoke about the World Bank report.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that Prime Minister Modi's ambition is to make India the skill hub of the world and in this context, World Bank's 'Jobs At Your Doorstep' report will help in creating a new thought process. The minister was speaking to NDTV after releasing the report at an event in New Delhi on Friday. The report is an analysis of the job landscape in six states in India, namely Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan. Mr Pradhan said that such in-depth diagnostics on skilling and jobs will enable stakeholders to create new architectures and make progressive policies for empowering our population.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has prepared a reformist governance agenda in the last 10 years. We have prepared a roadmap for what needs to be done to make India a developed country by 2047 and how a global profile of India can be prepared," the Union minister told NDTV.
"Keeping this in mind, in NEP 2020, special attention is being given to the skilling of students from Class 6. In its latest report, the World Bank has prepared a report on the impact of this big initiative on ground in six states and has taken a new initiative at an all-India level on what needs to be done to take this process forward," he added.
He then listed the initiatives undertaken by the government to overhaul the country's education system.
"In this year's budget, provision has been made to give internship opportunities to 1 crore youth. We give more importance to job creators than job seekers. Further, our government has given freedom to schools to start initiatives on a large scale for skill training," Mr Pradhan said.
He then pointed out why the scope of the word 'job' needs to be expanded to accommodate changing economic dynamics.
"I have suggested to the World Bank that it is necessary to change the definition of 'job'. An Indian benchmark should be created for this. Considering the new economic environment that has emerged in India in the last 10 years, there is a need to broaden the definition of job," Mr Pradhan told NDTV.
The Jobs at Your Doorstep report identifies key priority sectors and roles that offer the highest employment potential for young people graduating from secondary school.
It also presents an analysis of skill gaps and is based on a massive study undertaken by the World Bank in six states - Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan. The World Bank report has carried out the study under its programme called Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS).