NN38, February 2007
Technical and Vocational Skills Development
TRAINING FOR INFORMAL ECONOMY
By Ashoka Chandra and M. K. Khanijo, New Delhi
KeywordsTraining, Informal economy, India
Summary
This article explains the focus of a new book on Training for Informal Economy in India. The purpose of this book is to collect, understand and crystallize the experiences and critical features of skill training in the informal economy, so that a range of strategies could be developed.
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Ashoka Chandra and M. K. Khanijo have just brought out (2007) an edited volume on Training for Informal Economy published by Excel Books, New Delhi.
Much of the research in the informal economy in India has concentrated on conceptual issues, data systems and range and type of activities. Skill training, on the other hand, has not received due attention. The purpose of this book, which is based on the papers prepared for a seminar, is not to discuss the theoretical framework of training, nor make a comparative analysis of various options, but to collect, understand and crystallize the experiences and their critical features, so that a range of strategies for training for the informal economy could be developed.
This book lays emphasis on training as a strategy for development by improving skills, productivity and incomes of informal sector workers. To this end, the book brings out the importance of studying occupations, carrying out training needs analysis, and imparting competency-based training. Issues such as training of trainers, pedagogy of training and certification of skills, have been dealt with.
It is now generally recognized that training for the informal economy cannot be patterned after training approaches for the formal economy for a number of reasons. Among others, training for the informal economy has to be relatively more specific to the product and process; it has to be imparted largely at the place of work; pedagogical techniques have to suit the trainees who are generally semi-literate or even illiterate; and the benefits of training must be immediate. Training also has to be much more flexible to suit specific economic and social circumstances of different groups of informal sector trainees.
With these considerations in mind, it was felt that mapping of any specific experiences of training and skill building in the informal economy could provide useful pointers to developing workable training strategies. Accordingly, a number of field level experiences have been described in the book with an eye to identifying and speculating on: what will work, what will not, and why. Some case studies highlight people?s participation through NGOs in choice and delivery of training. A particularly notable approach, described in the book, is the use of formal sector institutions ? the Community Polytechnics - in delivering informal sector training. Apart from offering normal training courses for the organized industrial sector, these institutions impart competency-based training to persons from the informal economy, that is entirely need- and demand-driven, with no restrictions whatsoever of age, prior educational qualification, or employment status of the training aspirant. Typically a Community Polytechnic ascertains the training needs of the community through a techno-economic and social survey of the area, as well as the employment potential of viable economic activities in the area. A Community Polytechnic works through a main centre in the polytechnic, one centre in nearby urban slums, and 4 to 6 extension centres in village clusters, each covering 10 to 12 villages. Each extension centre has a small workshop and a work-shed constructed on land provided by the village panchayat (council). It works as a training cum production centre and also offers technical and other support services to the local community. Commencing with a limited experiment in 36 polytechnics some three decades back, the scheme of Community Polytechnics has expanded to 675 polytechnics and is slated to cover all existing polytechnics in the coming 5 year plan. The scheme has been evaluated twice by external agencies, which have commended the particular success of Community Polytechnics in building effective linkages with the local community and in imparting skills.
Going by this successful experience of using formal sector institutions for delivering informal sector training, the book recommends developing 5000 plus existing Industrial Training Institutes/Centres, as Community ITIs on the pattern of Community Polytechnics. It also suggests that formal training institutions could be involved in a variety of systemic roles in support of informal sector training such as: planning, research, developing sound pedagogy, building competency standards, testing competencies and certification, backstopping delivery agencies, training delivery agencies, interfacing with concerned NGOs, monitoring and evaluation, policy making, analyzing labour markets, and establishing and running Labour Market Information Systems at district, state and national levels.
The book highlights that public investment on education and training currently flows largely to formal training institutions that cater mostly to the formal economy, and argues that effective advocacy is needed to ensure that adequate investment is made in training for the informal economy.
The book could well be useful to all those interested in training for the informal economy especially policy makers, implementers, trainers and researchers.
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