Skill development increased female employment rate by 12% in India: World Bank

The World Bank in a recent study on India ’s skill development programmes across five states including Assam , Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan, has stated that acquiring new skills can increase income by 21%. The study has factored into the Skill India Mission launched by the Government of India on 15th July 2015.   The findings of the survey comprising of 5700 trainees for the period between April and October 2014, are enumerated below: ·         Training programmes boost the employment rate for women more than men however, the women end up earning 20% less than their male counterparts. ·         The employment rate of female trainees post completion of a skill development programme rose by 12%, compared to 4.5% increase among male trainees. ·         However, the above mentioned increases were only seen in the skill development initiatives by the ministries of labour, ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation and the training network funded by the National Skill Development Corporation. ·         Two schemes run by the rural development ministry namely,  Aajeevika skills and self-employment training, had no impact on employability, income or quality of work. ·         Within the effective schemes, trainees who got employment, earn an average 21% more than their untrained colleagues. ·         The quality of work also improved for skilled workers, with a number of them getting job contracts, access to a pension plan and a regular 8-hour working day. ·         In contrast, the bank noted that only 25% - 30% of trainees are placed into a job on completion of their training and many of these jobs remain in the informal sector.