The Importance of Skill Development in School Education 2022

Table of Contents

The formative years of a student are spent acquiring knowledge mostly through books in schools and colleges. And, although this knowledge helps the students develop their personalities, it fails to arm them with practical skills that give them a better chance at the job market.

90% of employment opportunities need the youth to be skilled in some vocation. But, the lack of skills leads to a failure in the youth to secure the job of their dreams.

Today, there is a greater demand for skilled workers. So, it becomes important that the pedagogy emphasizes skill development for students that prepare them for their future careers.

Let’s try and understand why skill development is a necessary part of international school and high school education and how it helps students.

Importance of Skill Development

It is important to empower students with skill-based training as the development of our economy depends upon them. Here’s why skill development in school is important:

● The skill development process helps students think beyond grades. It helps them tap into their capabilities, develop real-life skills, and prepare themselves to be successful in the careers of their choice.

● Skill-based learning improves employability and helps the youth earn more. Furthermore, it improves the economy of a country and promotes its financial growth.

● Skill-based learning helps students develop problem-solving strategies and effective communication techniques.

● Learning skill development promotes the leadership skills of students as it helps them become more altruistic. They learn to use their skills to organize and inspire their teams, which, in turn, creates in them leadership qualities.

● It also helps students develop creativity, critical thinking, and analytical thinking as skill-based learning focuses on the evaluation and application of facts to real-life problems.

Importance of Skill Development Curriculum in School

Skill development helps build a strong foundation for students at the school level. It helps build self-esteem, confidence, and leadership skills. It develops problem-solving skills and collaboration.

It helps students become independent thinkers and encourages them to plan for their future. As schools in India are primarily academic-centric, introducing skill development through the curriculum is essential.

It helps students explore and learn things outside of their textbooks. It also gives them the freedom to think independently and make choices at an early age.

It builds team spirit, creativity, inquisitiveness, trustworthiness, assertiveness, and sympathy in students. All of this goes on to create a solid foundation for a successful academic and professional future.

Education and skill development go hand in hand in preparing students for the pressures and demands of today’s challenging world. Skill development benefits students in the following way:

● It builds confidence in them to participate in collaborative ventures.

● It helps them take responsibility for their actions.

● Students learn to make their own decisions and understand how their decisions can have repercussions, too.

● They learn to tackle issues and situations on their own.

● Skill development helps high school students develop readiness to face challenging situations in their future.

‍

Skill Development in Higher Education

Today, there is a large chunk of the unemployed population consisting of highly educated youth who fail to find employment because of a lack of skills, and skilled individuals who lack eligibility because of a lack of knowledge.

And, therefore, the need to provide skill-based learning in higher education to help students receive vocational training besides academics to improve their chances of better employment and a successful career.

Because of this need, vocational education is being considered as part of a structured program at the university level.

This will provide multiple opportunities to students who will acquire skills related to particular professions along with general education.

This will help students pursue graduation in a variety of vocations besides the mainstream subjects, such as science, arts, commerce, medicine, engineering, etc.

Students will get the freedom to select the vocation of their choice and make a career in it. Moreover, thanks to the skill development programs, students will get practical experiences in vocational training that will give them better chances at employability.

Skill Development Program: How They Help the Youth?

The government of India has several plans for skill development to improve employment opportunities for the youth.

These programs not only provide the vocational training required to improve job prospects but also help develop personalities, enhance work proficiency, and improve communication skills, time management, and negotiation skills.

The skill development programs also help the youth identify their interests and talents. It helps them develop flexibility, reliability, productivity, and efficiency.

All of this goes on to improve their chances of successful careers and widen their career opportunities.

Skill Development in India

The government of India launched an initiative in the year 2015 called Skill India. It aimed to train 40 crore Indians in a variety of industrial jobs. Its goal: Empower the youth with schemes and training courses by the year 2022.

The benefits of this initiative are:

● Better job opportunities, better-paying jobs, and a higher standard of living for the youth.

● Development in every sector of the economy and every sector experiencing equal growth.

● Trained individuals entering the workforce, which will lead to better and faster results and a boost to the Indian economy.

Various courses are offered as part of this initiative, such as management and development programs, entrepreneurship development programs, skill development programs, promotion of small enterprises, cluster development, lending schemes, etc.

‍

Also Read: Why Is Project-Based Learning Important?

‍

Conclusion

Skill development has gained a lot of importance in today’s world. With the need to empower the youth, improve their job prospects, and also the economy of the country, skill development has become an essential aspect of education.

It is getting incorporated into the school curriculum that earlier focused mainly on academics. Now, however, the focus is also on imparting life skills to school students and vocational training to high school students in a bid to improve their chances of a brighter and better future.

Skill development not only helps individual students but also the community as a whole. It helps create a better world, where there is respect for cultural differences and diversity and where creativity and imagination get the importance they deserve, all of which help in creating a flourishing society.

alagu@yenmin.com