The Union Cabinet has approved the merger of the existing regulatory institutions in the skills space -National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) and the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) -into the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET). The new body will regulate the functioning of entities engaged in vocational education and training -both long-term and short-term- and establish minimum standards for the functioning of such entities.
PRIMARY FUNCTIONS OF NCVET
- recognition and regulation of awarding bodies, assessment bodies and skill related information providers
- approval of qualifications developed by awarding bodies and Sector Skill Councils (SSCs)
- indirect regulation of vocational training institutes through awarding bodies and assessment agencies
- research and information dissemination
- grievance redressal
According to the Union Government, the Council would be headed by a Chairperson and will have Executive and Non-Executive Members. Since NCVET is proposed to be set up through merger of 2 existing bodies, the existing infrastructure and resources will be utilized for the most part. A few more posts will be created for its smooth functioning.
The regulator will follow the best practices of regulatory processes, which will help ensure that it performs its functions professionally and as per the applicable laws. The merger is expected to lead to the improvement in quality and market relevance of skill development programs lending credibility to vocational education and training encouraging greater private investment and employer participation in the skills space.
This in turn will help achieve the twin objectives of enhancing aspirational value of vocational education and of increasing skilled manpower. At present, there are 20 ministries / departments implementing skill development programs mostly using private sector training providers. In the past, most of the country’s skill training needs were met through courses offered by the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and under the Modular Employable Scheme (MES), regulated by NCVT.
An attempt towards some measure of regulation was made with the establishment of the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) in 2013, to coordinate and harmonize the skill development efforts of the government and the private sector. The primary role of NSDA has been to anchor and operationalize the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) to ensure that quality and standards meet sector specific requirements.
