World Youth Skills Day is a United Nations-mandated holiday that is observed on July 15 every year. This day was observed for the first time in 2014. The day is dedicated to creating dialogue about providing the youth with requisite technical and vocational training all over the world.
In this article, we will look at the significance, importance and related information about World Youth Skills Day. The day is celebrated by the Permanent Missions of Sri Lanka and Portugal to the UN in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth.
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World Youth Skills Day Overview
Let us look at some facts that will help us understand the importance and exigencies of observing World Youth Skills Day.
- Populations aged between 13 and 35 are counted among the youth.
- India has the largest youth population in the world. Around 66% of the population is under the age of 35.
- Niger is the youngest country in the world by population. Around 50% of the people are below the age of 15.
- According to the ILO, young people are thrice as likely to be unemployed as compared to adults.
- The fundamental goal behind observing this day is to improve overall socio-economic circumstances for the younger generation by tackling the challenges posed by unemployment and under-employment.
- The COVID-19 Pandemic has exposed the urgency of providing vocational training to young men and women to increase opportunities for entrepreneurship.
- In India, people begin to enter the labour force at a comparatively early age due to poverty and illiteracy.
World Youth Skills Day Importance
The day provides an opportunity for conversation and exchange of ideas between the youth and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, organizations, workers’ unions and legislative bodies and such.
On this day, young men and women are educated about the importance of skills for employment, decent livelihood and entrepreneurship. Those young people who are unable to sponsor their higher education or those who do not wish to continue with further education due to other reasons (family responsibilities and such) need to be trained in the necessary occupational skills that will allow them to build a decent life for themselves.
World Youth Skills Day Significance
The central idea behind this day is to acknowledge the fact that vocational/occupational skills can make people employable even if they do not have adequate formal educational training. Conversely, formal schooling should be coupled with technical training so that youths can be industrious and enterprising. This will have an immensely positive impact on both local and global economies.
Training and education are focal points to achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
World Youth Skills Day Theme 2021
The World Youth Skills Day Theme for 2021 is “Reimagining Youth Skills Post Pandemic”. As we can see, the theme is particularly relevant. As we grapple with the pandemic, teenagers and young professionals all over the world have become exposed to the economic ills of the global pandemic due to the lockdowns and successive recessions in various parts of the world.
There is an urgent need to empower the youths who have been directly or indirectly been financially affected. To ensure that the effects of the pandemic can be minimized promptly, as a society, we need to proactively ensure that young men and women are helped back up on their feet again.
The theme for World Youth Skills Day 2020 was “Skills for a Resilient Youth.”
World Youth Skills Day 2021 Actions Required
- To study and analyze the situation of the youth concerning the skills and work during and after the global pandemic in different parts of the world particularly with respect to the lockdown periods.
- To acknowledge their hard work and resilience during the time of the crisis.
- To revitalize them by providing adequate training and instruction.
- To provide new opportunities to the young generation to channelize their energy effectively.
World Youth Skills Day in India
The importance of World Youth Skills Day is particularly dynamic in a country like India. In a country marred with overpopulation, poverty, unemployment, child labour and related problems, the young generation needs to be motivated and kept hopeful so they may channelize their energy in the proper way. Talented Indians get left behind in the rat race at a very early stage in their lives that leads to lawlessness, substance abuse and crime.
This is why the young generation, especially those who have dropped or opted out of school, must be given occupational/technical training in a field of their choice so they may build a decent life for themselves.
Skill India Mission
The Skill India Mission was launched in India on July 15, 2015, as a proactive initiative by the government to train and empower young people and to make them employable. The idea is to create an empowered workforce through government schemes and state-sponsored training. The aim is to train 40 crore, young men and women, by 2022 across sectors and States in India. The mission is under the authority of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
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