Skill Institutes Are No Less Than IITs And IIMs, Modi Tells Returning WorldSkills Team

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told members of India's team at the WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai that the country's vocational training institutions matter no less than its elite engineering and management schools, at a meeting with the competitors at his official residence in Delhi on Friday

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Practical skills are as important as academic degrees, Modi said. He congratulated the competitors on representing India and urged them to act as ambassadors for skill development.

He said that as technology changed rapidly, young people had to keep acquiring new skills, upgrade the capabilities they already had and adapt to emerging technologies. He asked the competitors to build skills in line with what international markets require, and to pass their experiences and suggestions to the government so that India's training system could be improved. Establishing the country as a global source of skilled labour, he said, would need coordinated effort from young people, the government and training institutions.

Modi also set out the reasoning behind creating a separate ministry for skill development, and said training institutes were no less important than the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management. Those two groups of public institutions are the most sought-after destinations in Indian higher education, admitting a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands who sit their entrance examinations each year, and a degree from either carries social standing that vocational qualifications in India have historically lacked.

The competitors told the Prime Minister about adapting to unfamiliar tools, software, technical systems and work processes during the contest, and said they were proud to have competed at that level. They also spoke about the government's skill development programmes and the effect on young people.

WorldSkills, held every two years, is the largest international competition in vocational and technical trades, with competitors drawn from member countries and regions. The 48th edition was staged at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai from 22 to 27 September.

India finished 10th, winning six silver medals and 20 Medals for Excellence. It was India's largest contingent at the competition, with 70 competitors entered across 63 skills.

The meeting was held at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, the Prime Minister's residence. Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State with independent charge for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Education, attended, along with senior officials.