Vikalp Skill Vouchers in Maharashtra

Bckground

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BART) Maharashtra and Centre for Civil Society (CCS) together with Michael & Susan Dell foundation initiated and assisted in the creation of a robust and independent voucher management system, the Vikalp Voucher Scheme.

Intervention

The Vikalp Voucher enables an individual to obtain training from any training institute accredited with the provider of the Voucher, it offers students the right to choose from skill development programmes based on their aptitude and not on the availability of schemes, courses.

As students can select institutes which deliver better training outcomes including through placements, the voucher facility motivates institutes to improve their standards hence driving efficiency and effectiveness in the vocational training space. Institutes selected for the pilot all shared positive records including strong performance in placements and certification, reliable infrastructure as well as full-time and qualified trainers.

Students were invited to learn about Vikalp Vouchers at career melas, where through counselling sessions they received information on career options, courses and training institutes. If the students meet eligibility criteria, CCS facilitated enrolment at the student- selected institute, payment of the Vikalp Voucher, and payment of each student's 10 percent contribution to the training. CCS then monitored students' progress, graduation and employment placement.

Institutes funded their vouchers in three outcomes-based intervals: upon completion of 10 percent of the course, upon certification and upon job placement. Throughout the pilot, CCS was mobilising students for a wide range of courses and vocational institutes, therefore saving up to 50 percent of the costs incurred by singular skill training institutes focused solely on recruiting their own students.

The experience gained from this shared mobilisation platform is significant for the financial success of skill training programmes.

Impact

• An impact evaluation pinpointed the benefits and risks of scaling up the project. Students who leveraged the voucher model had twice the chance of getting a job compared to their peers.
• With access to more information and options, students make more thoughtful training decisions.
• The pilot proved the significance of career counselling in driving demand for quality skills training.

Key takeaways

• Students get the capacity to pay for the course through the voucher and choose the course/institute of their choice, thereby improving access and equity. Competition facilitates improvement in infrastructure and thereby duality of training.
• The choice to the students facilitates informed decision about course/trade to be taken up and thus better access to employment opportunities.
• The institutes have to earn their vouchers based on meeting the performance criteria thereby facilitating choice and competition.
• It is a cutting-edge prototype that if scaled, can provide millions of young people the opportunity and choice to build meaningful careers through skill development.

To know more information, visit Centre for Civil Society / Vikalp Vocuher Program

Source : Skilling for employability - Best Practices