The trainer's dilemma

Just the other day, I came across an article that read the survey of Indian Labour Agency. (I guess this is it only:))It was about the plight of Indian industry grappling with the shortage of skilled manpower. It said that 90% of Indian graduates are unemployable and out of those that are, more than half earn a pittance. The problem is rather grave-lack of training. The roots of the problem have dug deeper into the malice of the parochial perception of the Indian society- the stigma associated with something that is sublime in deeds. The concept of training unfortunately still remains western. The traditional respectable 'guru' has finally become a jobless man devoid any good opportunity and forced to live the life of a teacher. That is the perception and the society cannot be blamed fully for it. That is the way practicality speaks. It is a rarity to find a technical or that matter even a graduate taking up the vocation of training for the love of it. Art for art's sake funda does not apply here.

But the gap between skilled and unskilled workforce can be bridged with the help of training. We surely never expect the conventional University or school model to work properly in India. The are not to be blamed fully as they earn a pittance vis-a-vis their other equally cometent counterpart and live a life of anonymity or sometimes call it quits in frustratuion and try to seek greener pastures.

But the paradox is stark. It is a catch-22 situation. The industry will eventually lose out to the competition because of lack of trainers and the industry will never recognise the trainer. The government spends only 5.2% of its GDP to education. Despite all of this, we need a few good men who can rise beyond the hype and hoopla and become proactive to bring certain grassroot level changes. The training pedagogy demands a sea change. The primary education has to be targeted and any effort to improve it must be properly recognised, if not incentivised. There disappears the truant, serious, dull professor devoid of even the working knowledge of his subject. And here pitches in the new-age professional who knows how to corporatize the unorganized industry. The real trainer has to set the extra mile in his life's marathon. He can inspire only by leading from the front and not just by feeling victimised and underperforming at the cost of the students. We need an army of trainers. Even training industry is undergoing metamorphosis. The signs of changes have started showing themselves and the trainer has started realising that his bootcamp has begun. Only thereafter can he can initiate a bootcamp for the protege. I will love to post more later.