Post-independence, India’s education policy heavily emphasised on higher education, leaving vocational training largely neglected. It was only with the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-2012) and subsequent initiatives such as the National Skills Policy (2009) and the National Skill Development Mission (NSP 2015), vocational education began receiving policy attention. The target of NSP 2015 was to train 400 million individuals by 2022 which is now not mentioned in recent policy documents.
The instruments to achieve that goal were the flagship schemes: Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) (2015 to present), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDUGKY) (2014 to present), and the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) (2016 to present) which promised to address the glaring skill gaps.
Yet, despite ambitious targets and substantial public investments, India’s skill development landscape, in the last decade, has remained mired in quantity-driven metrics and dubious success stories.
A worrying picture of vocational training trends
While formal vocational training has seen a modest rise to 4.1%, informal training avenues – particularly hereditary (from 1.45 in 2017 to 11.6% in 2023) and on-the-job training (from 2.04% in 2017 to 9.3% in 2023) – have surged. With individuals not receiving any form of training decreasing at such drastic rates in last 3 years raises the question on how recording of data may have changed.
Table: Percentage distribution of persons aged between 15-59 who received vocational training
| Year | 2004-05 | 2011-12 | 2017-18 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
| Formal Training | 2.4% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 3.8% | 4.1% |
| Non-Formal (Hereditary) | 4.4% | 1.8% | 1.45% | 7.9% | 11.6% |
| Non-Formal (Self-Learning) | 3.9% | 1.1% | 1.67% | 5.7% | 7.1% |
| Non-Formal (On the Job) | – | 1.7% | 2.04% | 7.7% | 9.3% |
| No Training | 87.8% | 92.6% | 92.59% | 72.6% | 65.3% |
Source: NSSO EUS and PLFS survey (various years)
The mystery lies in the sudden large increase workers already in the work force (WF) who have been imparted a one-day to one-week recognition of prior learning (RPL), which is a way of certifying those with self-learnt/on the job skills. A high influx of RPL trained individuals who many times undergo courses having a duration of less than 24 hours may be a plausible explanation for this sudden rise formally and informally trained individuals.
Government data exposes a disturbing reliance on short-term courses. PMKVY, Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), and other schemes primarily offer brief training stints – sometimes as short as 10 days.
| Scheme | Number of Individuals Trained |
| PMKVY (2015-2023) | 140.81 lakh |
| Jan Shikshan Sansthan (2018-2023) | 2.96 lakh |
| Craftsmen Training Scheme (2018-2023) | 5.11 lakh |
Source: Rajya Sabha questions (2024)
In 2017-18, 29% of vocational trainees undertook courses lasting over two years, which halved in a matter of six years. By 2023-24, this figure plummeted to just 14.29%. Meanwhile, the share of trainees attending courses shorter than six months sky rocketed from 22% to 44%. This shift reflects a systemic preference for quick certifications over substantive skill development.
Rapid decrease in the duration of skill development courses
There is a rapid decrease in the duration of skill development courses. So, overall, more people are getting degrees/certificates or formal education, but the duration of these courses is very short – in some cases, only 10 days. The rise in these short-term training (STT) courses is accompanied by the fact that 96.4% of individuals in India spent less than 15 years in formal education in 2011-12, and that number has now decreased to 95.8% in 2022-23 (NSSO, various rounds), while the share of those in formal education has shot up very sharply over the same period.
Every year, four to five thousand crore rupees are spent by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, but there is hardly any publication available that denotes the number of placed candidates after undergoing training.
Despite being the cornerstone of the Skill India Mission, PMKVY has faced persistent challenges, including an over-reliance on short-term training programs and stagnation in placement rates. Placement figures for these courses are highly suspicious where PMKVY reported 54% placement but data reveals only 22.16% placed. These courses, with durations as short as 24 hours or 3 days, are typically offered by private, NSDC-funded training providers.
The placement rate for PMKVY 1.0 (launched in 2015) stood at 18.4%, which marginally increased to 23.4% under PMKVY 2.0, before sharply declining to 10.1% under PMKVY 3.0. Nevertheless, the scheme continues to receive substantial funding, with PMKVY 4.0 commenced in 2024, backed by a budget allocation of Rs. 12,000 crores (PMKVY, 2024).
The National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), launched in 2016 with a budget of Rs. 10,000 crores, aimed to train 50 lakh apprentices by 2020. However, by 2022, only 20 lakh apprentices had been trained, and only approximately ₹650 crore of the allocated funds were disbursed to states between 2017 and 2022. NAPS 2.0 was introduced in 2023, but no figures are yet available.
Apprentices still represent a minuscule fraction of India’s total workforce
A 2022 study by the ILO noted that amendments to the Apprenticeship Act of 1961 have resulted in some increase in apprenticeship numbers. Despite this, apprentices still represent a minuscule fraction of India’s total workforce – just over half a million apprentices out of a workforce of 570 million in 2022-23, a modest increase from 2,50,000 ten years ago.
The way that more advanced economies have expanded the share of their vocationally trained workers is to ensure on-the-job training (OJT) for their young; this gives them a pathway from education to the world of work, while providing them with both training and experience, while their stipend allows them to keep body and soul together.
A large influx of individuals into the workforce may now be those who possess certificates signifying they are skilled yet they lack the actual competence/proficiency to perform tasks effectively due to insufficient or poor quality of training. This underscores the urgent necessity for stringent quality assessments of these abbreviated courses. Because of their limited proficiency, such trainees often struggle to secure employment after training.
This challenge is exacerbated by the alarming unemployment rates after vocational training completion. The unemployment rate among formally trained individuals remains stubbornly high at 17%, compared to just 4% for informally trained workers.
Disconnect between formal training programs and actual industry demands
This disparity reflects the disconnect between formal training programs and actual industry demands. Youth unemployment rates have decreased from all time high of 17.5% but still remain in double digits which is worrying signs for the economy with rising general and vocational training numbers. This again raises the question about quality of these courses which are not imparting employable skills in individuals.
Youth unemployment trend figures add another layer to this crisis:
| Year | 2004-05 | 2011-12 | 2017-18 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
| Male | 6.2% | 6.0% | 17.3% | 9.7% | 9.8% |
| Female | 4.4% | 6.8% | 17.9% | 10.6% | 11.0% |
| Total | 5.7% | 6.2% | 17.5% | 10.0% | 10.2% |
Source: NSSO EUS and PLFS survey (various years)
Open unemployment for formally vocationally trained individuals rose from 12 lakhs in 2004-05 to 19.8 lakh in 2023-24, while for informally trained individuals, it increased from 3.1 lakh to 7.6 lakh. These numbers highlight the deep structural flaws in India’s skill development ecosystem.
India’s vocational education system has become a numbers game, where certificates are churned out without meaningful skill acquisition. The rising reliance on short-term training, poor employment outcomes, and inflated placement statistics reflect systemic failures.
If India truly aims to become a global skill hub, it must prioritise quality over quantity, invest in long-term training programs, and increase accountability of private sector in vocational training rather than them just existing as a spectator. Anything less would be a disservice to millions of young Indians hoping for a better future.
Santosh Mehrotra was Prof of Economics, JNU, and Dr Harshil Sharma, Director, Indus Action, holds a Ph.D. in Labour Economics from JNU.
