Skill
Development Ministry marches towards a comprehensive quality assurance
mechanism in VET
*Rohit Nandan
Indian
Vocational Education and Training (VET) and general education is in the process
of reform and has under gone a number of changes which has seen the system open
up to greater participation from industry through the introduction of a
National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF). The NSQF was notified on 27th
December 2013, and was anchored in the National Skill Development Agency
(NSDA). Like the EU, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, the UAE and others, the
introduction of a qualifications framework in India called for coordinated
linkages across educational training sectors, and industry to ensure that all
qualifications in the country are valued and consistent.
NSQF
ensured a formal structure to qualifications/courses being offered and
implemented in the most scattered manner, by organising them into levels of
competencies based on knowledge, skill and attitude. A paradigm shift from
input based approach of educational training to an outcome oriented training
and assessment is envisaged through the NSQF. This is being done by NSDA by
setting up minimum norms for industry validation, curricula, and content for
qualification alignment and approval. NSDA is providing assistance to State
Skill development Missions and GOI Ministries to align to the new approach, and
so far around 1500 qualifications by various certifying bodies have been
approved as per the outcome based approach. An outcome based approach will
better inform the candidates and the employers about what a learner can do
after taking up the course/qualification, and builds confidence in the quality
assurance of qualifications leading to better acceptability by Industry, and mobility
and progression within and between education and training systems.
National
Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 has emphasized on the
need to undertake skilling in India at scale with speed, standard (quality) and
sustainability. Training people under the new NSQF requires a coordinated
effort to ensure parity of awards across different educational sectors, and to
guarantee consistency in graduate outcomes nationally and increased remittances
internationally. If the title and level of a qualification in one country does
not meet the outcomes of a qualification of a similar title at a similar level
in other countries then trust in that nation’s qualifications will begin to erode.
This is where a nationally coordinated quality framework helps to protect the
integrity of qualifications. Ministry of Skill Development &
Entrepreneurship is keen to ensure that qualifications and skills gained are
valued in the labour market by employers and students. This is done by aligning
national qualifications and training/education needs with comprehensive labour
market analyses, and applying outcomes-based quality assurance. This also
facilitates smooth pathway progression to higher level qualifications. To
achieve this, we require a quality framework to underpin the implementation of
the qualifications framework, the NSQF. This will allow India to benchmark qualifications,
training, and performance outcomes across Ministries, States and other
countries. One common concurrence in all models for international recognition
is the emphasis on a unified and internationally referenced quality assurance
system for education and skills development.
The
policy clearly states 'One Nation One Standard' to ensure that a uniform set of
nationally accepted standards can be aligned globally and Indian youth can fetch
jobs, and career progression opportunities at local, national and international
levels.
The following parameters have been identified for
improving quality: •
·
Quality assurance framework embedded in
NSQF •
·
Market relevant training programmes
•
·
Recognition of prior learning •
·
Curriculum alignment •
·
National Certification Framework •
·
Employability skills
·
Placements
The Policy has envisioned the role of National Skill
Development Agency (NSDA) focussing on Quality Assurance and Policy Research in
the skill eco-system. It mandated NSDA to establish and operationalise a Quality
Assurance framework embedded in NSQF to improve consistency of outcomes in the
skills landscape, which includes laying down a framework for training,
assessment and certification processes and agencies in the country. The
Quality Assurance Framework will act as a regulatory framework which will
define the norms, quality standards and processes to be followed by various
stakeholders, in the vocational education and training space in the country.
The proposed National Quality Assurance Framework
(NQAF), places particular emphasis on the evaluation and improvement of the
outputs and outcomes of VET and general education in terms of increasing
employability, improving the match between demand and supply, and promoting
better access to lifelong learning. Quality in the context of NQAF means;
processes, procedures and outcomes for ensuring that qualifications, assessment
and programme delivery produce graduates who productively meet industry’s
current and future skill needs. The National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF)
is designed to be used across states, sectors and ministries and provides the
structure within which all bodies operate.
The vision of the National Quality Assurance
Framework is to:
1.
Improve the consistency and industry
relevance of NSQF graduates through closer partnerships with industry and other
social partners;
2.
Accommodates diversity and protects
learners from inferior and non-relevant skills development for people from all
socio-economic backgrounds and genders;
3.
Provide a structure for continuous
improvement of the VET and general education systems in India;
4.
Improve the quality of all education and
training in India, even those delivered by institutions that have limited
resources, by an inclusive quality framework, which permits such institutions
to achieve the quality standards laid down in the NQAF. The objective is not to
exclude large number of participants in the VET and general education process
by an exclusive framework that set benchmarks that excludes much of education
and training provision existing in the country;
5.
Provide greater transparency and
consistency across the entire VET and general education system as it provides a
common framework for the system as a whole to improve, monitor and evaluate the
management, provision and outcomes of education and training.
The NQAF is to be applied at all levels of the VET
and general education system, and can be used to assess the effectiveness of VET
and general education as a whole. A nationally consistent approach to quality
will assist in raising the status of VET and general education as employers
will realise that graduates are exiting training/education programmes with
consistent relevant skills and knowledge. Ministries, States, Government and
industry led bodies(Sector skill councils) all have a role in supporting
continuous improvement across the skills development system in India. Most
existing quality arrangements in India focus on up front audits rather than
committing to the principle of continuously improving the quality of their
training/education outcomes by building on the existing quality requirements.
There are major variations in the standard of facilities, access to current
equipment and the skills of teachers in the various stakeholders involved in VET
and general education in India across geographies. Large urban based
Training/Education Institutions are more likely to have access to skilled staff
and good training equipment than in rural and remote areas. This disparity
means that the quality framework must offer avenues for all training/education
organisations to participate at different levels with the goal of progressing
to common higher levels of quality through incremental improvement. The NQAF
involves an incremental approach for training/education providers which will
not adversely affect training and education efforts required to meet nationally
set training targets.
The NQAF encompasses a sub-set of 8 Quality Manuals
of processes, principles and indicators, which will provide a set of standards
to be followed by stakeholders, so that the implementation process across
Ministries, sectors, States and Departments is carried out with the same
efficacy. Each Manual describes the processes to be undertaken. The Manuals
will be referred by various stakeholders, implementers, regulators and policy
makers to ensure that the NSQF is implemented in its full spirit and is able to
build and maintain the confidence of all the stakeholders.
The Manuals in the NQAF series cover:
The
first manual i.e. the Overview Manual provides an introductory overview
of the entire regulatory framework and the quality standards covered for each
stakeholder in the 7 subset manuals of the framework.
The
second manual i.e. Registration of NSQF
Qualification lays down the important aspects of a
qualification, the process of aligning the same with the NSQF, and registration
on National Qualification Register. The manual defines the role of competent
bodies in alignment of qualifications, and describes the parameters and tools
for alignment and review of qualification under NSQF.
The
third manual is on Accreditation of
Training/Education Institutions which
lays down the norms and standards against which a training/education
institute should be assessed in order to impart quality training services. It
proposes a tiered approach with four tiers of accreditation depending upon the
quality of services and operations. This provides the training provider with an
inclusive accreditation framework and an opportunity of continual improvement
in the VET space.
The
fourth manual, Accreditation of Assessment Bodies and Quality Assurance
in Assessments lays down norms and standards against which Assessment
bodies will be accredited to conduct assessments in VET space. In line with the
Accreditation framework for Training Institutions, a tiered approach is
proposed for the assessment bodies also, with three tiers of accreditation. The
manual provides best practices at each stage of assessment and act as a guide
to assessors for delivering high quality assessment.
The
fifth and the sixth manual i.e. the NQAF Auditor’s Manual and the Risk
Assessment Framework Manual provide processes, and indicators for
evaluation of compliance to NQAF Standards by service providers. While the
Auditor’s Manual provides information on Audit processes under NQAF, the Risk
Assessment Framework highlights the compliance status of service providers,
measured against risk indicators and how the same will be used for monitoring
and continuous improvement of the TVET system.
The
seventh manual i.e. Quality Assurance of Industry Bodies Manual provides
Quality Assurance procedures for industry consultations, qualification evidence
and data collection requirements, information on communication about the NSQF
and alignment to NSQF levels.
The
eights manual i.e. Quality Assurance for National and State Level Bodies
Manual specifically covers NSQF implementation and provides information on how
the NQAF objectives can be monitored and quality improvements evaluated by
appropriate national and state level bodies. It also lays down data collection
requirements and interim arrangements for implementation of NQAF.
NQAF
embedded in NSQF has been conceived as an overarching framework for Quality
Assurance, covering all skilling initiatives of States schemes,
GOI ministries, private and corporate sector, to be implemented in a
phased-wise manner through proper institutional structures.
****
*Author
is Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of
India.