India, Germany to strengthen ties to encourage vocational education, training, workforce mobility

NEW DELHI: The Government of India and Germany have decided to undertake a skill mapping exercise to assess the skill gaps and design bridge courses and upskilling programmes for training Indian workers. The decision was taken in the 12th meeting of the Indo-German joint working group held today in New Delhi to encourage Vocational Education and Training (VET).

The deliberations at the meeting were aimed at institutionalizing a standard mechanism for VET to meet the skill requirements in priority sectors as per the German standards.

KK Dwivedi, joint secretary, ministry of skill development & entrepreneurship and Alexander Hochradel, senior policy officer of division 222: ERASMUS; International Cooperation in Vocational Training, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) co-chaired the meeting.

“During the meeting, the two partner countries discussed on establishing a framework for employer connect and get an understanding on how skilled certified workers could participate in economic development mutual accreditation of training providers in both countries through G2G, G2B and B2B tie-ups with relevant institutions which have international standards for training, assessment, and certifications will also be undertaken,” the official statement said.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) discussed aggregation of demand requirements and employer mandates to NSDCI including job description, eligibility criteria, foreign language training and curricula details.

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The ministry may also provide technical support for Training of Trainers (ToT), Trainers of Assessors (ToA), foreign language training, development of industry-relevant content and curriculum.

KK Dwivedi stated: “Germany is one of India’s most important partners in Europe owing to the strength of bilateral relations that we have. And the deliberations that have taken place in today’s meeting will further strengthen the ties between the two nations and will ensure that we propel the economy by providing the right support and talent through vocational education and training. There is great potential for workforce mobility from India to Germany.”

“The fact that almost one-third of Germany's Blue Card recipients in 2021 have hailed from India, is a testimony to the vast complementarities which exist between the requirements of skills and talents in Germany and the vast reservoir of young, educated, and skilled persons in India, who can contribute positively to India´s multi-dimensional cooperation with Germany,” he added.

“Apprenticeship being one of the most sustainable models of skill development, India proposes for virtual/physical exchange programmes in academic and vocational domain focused on apprenticeship training where students will be able to earn while they through on the job projects across both countries,” he further added.