Identification of factors affecting successful outcomes in the DDU-GKY Indian skills programme for unemployed young people
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: Institute for Employment Research
Abstract
Youth unemployment and underemployment is a pressing economic and political concern in several developing countries. In the Indian context, this is a particular concern because of the potential that India will not realise its demographic dividend (that is, the benefit of having a large population of working-age people within the total population) if a re-balancing of the economy and skills system is not undertaken to address skills gaps.
The most recent Indian Labour Market conference (held in 2015) concluded that a significant number of young people were trapped in involuntary part-time, casual, temporary or seasonal work and lacked access to the kind of personal and professional development activities that could see them move into better and less precarious employment. Since 2003, there has been an increase in training provision by unregulated private sector providers which has contributed to a surplus in some skills and shortages in others, and this is now a critical policy issue. As a result, the Government of India (GoI) is taking a more interventionist role in shaping skills training provision and developing public-private partnerships with training providers and employers.
The GoI has launched a number of skills training programmes for rural youths from poor families. Since 2012, it has spent around USD 868 million on such schemes. However, there is limited evidence on who participates in these programmes and their impact on development of personal and social capabilities. Consequently, it is difficult to assess their ability to link job creation to poverty alleviation and the development of a more inclusive society.
Motivated by the lack of evidence and the importance given to such schemes in India's growth strategy, we propose to examine participation in and the impact of one of India's major and most prominent skills and job creation schemes, that is, the "Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana" (DDU-GKY). Between January 2017 and January 2018, 113,329 young people took part in DDU-GKY training and 69,471 were placed in employment across 398 trades. There were 699 centres delivering training during this period. The programme has a clear mission to engage the most excluded groups and it is proposed that programme participants should include Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (50%), minorities (15%), women (33%) and persons with disabilities (3%).
We aim to identify the social factors that influence the ability of the DDU-GKY programme, and other similar programmes, to achieve social development and inclusion and to assess not only whether such programmes lead to sustained employment and higher earnings, but also whether they promote the development of the personal and social capabilities that are linked to employability skills and full engagement in society.
Our aim is not to evaluate the overall DDU-GKY programme but to identify factors which will support its success, while simultaneously developing a broader definition of 'success', incorporating measures of social inclusion and employability or soft skills gain and the personal efficacy to employ these skills in the workplace and in wider society. The research also aims to establish the reasons why some groups who are eligible for training are particularly unlikely to register to take part in the programme and to compare skills gain amongst these groups with those who have participated in training.
This project will take an innovative local capacity-building approach, and involves the UK research team working in partnership with local academics and training providers in developing quantitative and qualitative instruments. Longitudinal surveys and interviews with programme participants and a control group of eligible non-participants will be used, as well as interviews with training providers and employers in 2 contrasting states, Bihar and Jharkhand.
The most recent Indian Labour Market conference (held in 2015) concluded that a significant number of young people were trapped in involuntary part-time, casual, temporary or seasonal work and lacked access to the kind of personal and professional development activities that could see them move into better and less precarious employment. Since 2003, there has been an increase in training provision by unregulated private sector providers which has contributed to a surplus in some skills and shortages in others, and this is now a critical policy issue. As a result, the Government of India (GoI) is taking a more interventionist role in shaping skills training provision and developing public-private partnerships with training providers and employers.
The GoI has launched a number of skills training programmes for rural youths from poor families. Since 2012, it has spent around USD 868 million on such schemes. However, there is limited evidence on who participates in these programmes and their impact on development of personal and social capabilities. Consequently, it is difficult to assess their ability to link job creation to poverty alleviation and the development of a more inclusive society.
Motivated by the lack of evidence and the importance given to such schemes in India's growth strategy, we propose to examine participation in and the impact of one of India's major and most prominent skills and job creation schemes, that is, the "Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana" (DDU-GKY). Between January 2017 and January 2018, 113,329 young people took part in DDU-GKY training and 69,471 were placed in employment across 398 trades. There were 699 centres delivering training during this period. The programme has a clear mission to engage the most excluded groups and it is proposed that programme participants should include Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (50%), minorities (15%), women (33%) and persons with disabilities (3%).
We aim to identify the social factors that influence the ability of the DDU-GKY programme, and other similar programmes, to achieve social development and inclusion and to assess not only whether such programmes lead to sustained employment and higher earnings, but also whether they promote the development of the personal and social capabilities that are linked to employability skills and full engagement in society.
Our aim is not to evaluate the overall DDU-GKY programme but to identify factors which will support its success, while simultaneously developing a broader definition of 'success', incorporating measures of social inclusion and employability or soft skills gain and the personal efficacy to employ these skills in the workplace and in wider society. The research also aims to establish the reasons why some groups who are eligible for training are particularly unlikely to register to take part in the programme and to compare skills gain amongst these groups with those who have participated in training.
This project will take an innovative local capacity-building approach, and involves the UK research team working in partnership with local academics and training providers in developing quantitative and qualitative instruments. Longitudinal surveys and interviews with programme participants and a control group of eligible non-participants will be used, as well as interviews with training providers and employers in 2 contrasting states, Bihar and Jharkhand.
Planned Impact
Who might benefit from this research?
This research will involve key local stakeholders in India. We consider it essential that we involve them at all stages of the research, and our aim is to engage them in a process of knowledge exchange and capacity-building activities, providing a legacy for future research and evaluation of the programme at the local level.
1. The academic community in the local area, particularly staff and postgraduate students at XISS, where our international co-Investigator is based.
2. Training providers delivering DDU-GKY interventions to upskill young people in Bihar and Jharkhand.
3. Employers training and/or employing young people as part of the programme, covering employers with differing commitments to the programme.
4. Policy-makers funding skills development programmes in Bihar and Jharkhand, particularly those with responsibilities matching relevant national ministries, i.e. the Ministry of Rural Development which launched the programme and the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Directorate General of Training.
5. Young participants and non-participants in the programme.
How might they benefit?
1. We will produce a body of knowledge on this ongoing national large-scale training programme for young people. At least two high-quality journal articles will be published, e.g. one international journal and one journal identified by the Co-investigator as more widely read in India. Study findings will be presented at conferences in the UK and India. The team will establish links with relevant Indian research institutes, e.g. the Centre for Skills and Jobs at the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj in Hyderabad (tasked with evaluating the programme) and Regional Vocational Training Institutes.
We will provide capacity-building activities for local academic staff and post-graduate students to enable them to conduct further research in this area by training staff and students at the co-I's institution, XISS, at all stages of the research and will include designing the study, analysing (longitudinal) data, evaluation methods, report writing and dissemination. Training will be provided by IER staff at sessions after the 3 project workshops.
2. Training provider representatives will be invited to take part in the project workshops as they are crucial to the success of the project. They will help to inform the study design, agree on the methodology used, support the data collection process, help draw up recommendations from the study and support the dissemination strategy, tapping into their networks to promote the project website as well as the findings of the study. Our research assistant will train the data collectors and data entry staff, so ensuring consistency and also providing them with ongoing research and dissemination skills.
3. Employers involved in the DDU-GKY programme are also crucial for the success of the project and we will invite relevant representatives of smaller and larger public and private employers to take part in the project workshops.
4. We will also invite representatives from the relevant government departments in Bihar and Jharkhand to take part in the workshops and to be involved in the activities above. We aim to promote the findings of the study as widely as possible within the two Indian states and more widely.
5. Involving young people who will (potentially) benefit from the DDU-GKY programme is a priority and we will invite representatives to take part in the project meetings. We are aware of the likely challenges to participation in the meetings (e.g. for young women from the most disadvantaged groups). Our local coordinators will liaise with these marginalised groups and identify a spokesperson/s on our behalf. Widespread dissemination of the findings among this group will also be a main priority to increase participation in the programme and we will seek advice on the best ways to reach these groups.
This research will involve key local stakeholders in India. We consider it essential that we involve them at all stages of the research, and our aim is to engage them in a process of knowledge exchange and capacity-building activities, providing a legacy for future research and evaluation of the programme at the local level.
1. The academic community in the local area, particularly staff and postgraduate students at XISS, where our international co-Investigator is based.
2. Training providers delivering DDU-GKY interventions to upskill young people in Bihar and Jharkhand.
3. Employers training and/or employing young people as part of the programme, covering employers with differing commitments to the programme.
4. Policy-makers funding skills development programmes in Bihar and Jharkhand, particularly those with responsibilities matching relevant national ministries, i.e. the Ministry of Rural Development which launched the programme and the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Directorate General of Training.
5. Young participants and non-participants in the programme.
How might they benefit?
1. We will produce a body of knowledge on this ongoing national large-scale training programme for young people. At least two high-quality journal articles will be published, e.g. one international journal and one journal identified by the Co-investigator as more widely read in India. Study findings will be presented at conferences in the UK and India. The team will establish links with relevant Indian research institutes, e.g. the Centre for Skills and Jobs at the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj in Hyderabad (tasked with evaluating the programme) and Regional Vocational Training Institutes.
We will provide capacity-building activities for local academic staff and post-graduate students to enable them to conduct further research in this area by training staff and students at the co-I's institution, XISS, at all stages of the research and will include designing the study, analysing (longitudinal) data, evaluation methods, report writing and dissemination. Training will be provided by IER staff at sessions after the 3 project workshops.
2. Training provider representatives will be invited to take part in the project workshops as they are crucial to the success of the project. They will help to inform the study design, agree on the methodology used, support the data collection process, help draw up recommendations from the study and support the dissemination strategy, tapping into their networks to promote the project website as well as the findings of the study. Our research assistant will train the data collectors and data entry staff, so ensuring consistency and also providing them with ongoing research and dissemination skills.
3. Employers involved in the DDU-GKY programme are also crucial for the success of the project and we will invite relevant representatives of smaller and larger public and private employers to take part in the project workshops.
4. We will also invite representatives from the relevant government departments in Bihar and Jharkhand to take part in the workshops and to be involved in the activities above. We aim to promote the findings of the study as widely as possible within the two Indian states and more widely.
5. Involving young people who will (potentially) benefit from the DDU-GKY programme is a priority and we will invite representatives to take part in the project meetings. We are aware of the likely challenges to participation in the meetings (e.g. for young women from the most disadvantaged groups). Our local coordinators will liaise with these marginalised groups and identify a spokesperson/s on our behalf. Widespread dissemination of the findings among this group will also be a main priority to increase participation in the programme and we will seek advice on the best ways to reach these groups.
Description | Significant new knowledge generated: by using a baseline and endline survey with a large group of disadvantaged young people embarking on a government-funded skills training programme in India, we were able to show the differential impact of the programme, particularly in terms of the self-reported acquisition of soft skills (e.g. social aptitudes, language and communication capability, friendliness and ability to work in a team). Although all participants were poor (measured as being 'below the poverty line'), they varied by caste and gender. Those from lower castes started out with lower aspirations and lower levels of soft skills than their peers in higher castes. However, they were more likely to report significant gains in soft skills over the period of the training programme, suggesting positive longer-term employment outcomes. New or improved research methods or skills developed: We used local data collectors to record responses directly from participants using tablets (they were trained in these methods by our research assistant beforehand). The anonymised data was then transferred safely to the UK research team, overseen by a research assistant and a project manager employed for the duration of the project. Attrition was extremely low (6%), but due to Covid the data collectors had to conduct the endline survey by telephone, using the same reporting methods. We also conducted a series of research methods training workshops for postgraduate students in our partner organisation, XISS. These were well-attended and we received positive feedback on content and assignments. Important new research questions opened up: Our survey data was complemented by interviews with local stakeholders and with young participants in the programme, as well as a similar group of non-participants to determine what barriers or challenges there are to participation. Initial analysis of this data suggest some reluctance on the part of parents to send girls on the residential programmes. Other challenges include the need to earn money for the family, even though the programme was only 3-6 months in duration and was free for participants. Questions remain around the best ways to encourage young people to take part. Other questions which need to be followed up in future are what are the longer-term outcomes of the programme, and how do these vary by caste and gender? We were unable to examine this in the current project due to the impact of lockdown in India and the temporary closure of the programme. |
Exploitation Route | The outcomes of this funding are still ongoing but we feel that the main findings will: - provide government policy-makers with vital information on the skills acquired by programme participants, both hard and soft skills; - provide information on non-participants (e.g. barriers and challenges) and what might work best to encourage them to take part, as well as those who drop out of the programme; - allow government policy-makers to assess the training programme in light of young people's comments and suggestions, as well as the views of training providers and employers; - provide information for potential participants on the experiences of other disadvantaged young people going through the programme; The outcomes should also be used by others in developing countries who have similar skills training programmes or who are considering their implementation. |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Education |
URL | https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/gcrf/working_papers_and_related_outputs/ |
Description | Skills building among Indian postgraduate students |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | A series of skills building workshops were delivered to postgraduate students at our partner organisation in India; these comprised research methods training in both quantitative and qualitative research methods, including setting assignments and marking submitted work. |
Description | XISS and IER collaboration |
Organisation | Xavier Institute of Social Service |
Country | India |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The Warwick IER research team was primarily responsible for designing the proposal, the research tools, the format of the four training workshops (two face-to-face in India in 2019, and two online during 2020), the data analysis and publications plan, working closely with our project partner at XISS. |
Collaborator Contribution | XISS was responsible for organising and hosting the first stakeholder workshop in Indian in April 2019, bringing together a large number of government and local officials, training providers and local village mobilisers, representing the young people on the DDU-GKY programme. The two training workshops were also held at XISS during the same period and were organised by our partner. |
Impact | A total of 4 training workshops in quantitative and qualitative research methods for postgraduate students were delivered by the IER team and facilitated by our partner: two were delivered by the IER team in India in 2019 and two were delivered online during 2020, along with assignments and marking of submitted work. We received very positive feedback from the students taking part. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Online workshops with postgraduate students in India |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | We held three workshop sessions online (using Microsoft Teams): two on qualitative research methods, including research ethics and the way qualitative research is affected by the pandemic, and a third session on quantitative methods. We had 57 participants (excluding the IER team) in sessions 1 and 2 and 50 participants in session 3. They were all master's students from our partner organisation in India, Xavier Institute of Social Studies (XISS). We also had another 30 participants registered on a follow-up Moodle, where we shared additional materials with them and 25 participants completed an assignment (in groups) - they developed a research proposal and received feedback from the research project team at Warwick. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Presentation to other GCRF award holders |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | We presented our research to an online audience of other GCRF award holders, organised by UKRI, including partner organsiations around the world. This allowed for greater debate, understanding and collaboration among recipients of the awards. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |