United Nations Development Programme

H O W T H E P R I VAT E S E C TO R D E V E LO P S S K I L L S
United Nations Development Programme

HOW THE PRIVATE SECTOR

WITH DOMESTEQ AND EYE MITRA
DEVELOPS SKILLS
LESSONS FROM INDIA

HOW THE PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPS SKILLS

CENTUM WORKSKILLS INDIA: LARGE-SCALE VOCATIONAL

TRAINING FOR YOUTH
CENTUM WORKSKILLS INDIA: LARGE-SCALE VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR YOUTH
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 SUMMARY

Prof. Sanjai Bhatt, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi,

New Delhi, India
AUTHOR
Dr. Sima Singh, Delhi School of Professional Studies and Research,
New Delhi, India

Centum WorkSkills India Limited (CWSI) is one of the NSDC’s

largest training partners. CWSI offers an integrated set of services
in the skills development sphere, from community mobilization
SUMMARY and training delivery to assessment, certification and assistance
for placement. The CWSI participatory approach and focus on
poor and disadvantaged populations contributes to community
empowerment and inclusive economic growth.

CWSI provides vocational training to youth on a large scale. The

curriculum designed is based on jobs availability in industry and is
validated by industry partners. CWSI selects and certifies training
instructors, boosting their career development and lifelong
learning opportunities through the Centum Skill Instructors Guild.
Mobilization campaigns reach beneficiaries through communities,
KEY FEATURES
social specialists, district administrations, self-help groups and
other means. After training, youth are placed within industry
through a robust industry network. CWSI uses an IT-based system,
i-Learner, to manage operations. Innovative cost-cutting measures
help operations become more financially sustainable despite low
profit margins.

• CWSI operates a network of 974 centres across 15 states

in India, offering training and employment placement
opportunities to youth in the informal and formal sectors.

• CWSI skilled 167,042 individuals in 2014-15, representing

nearly 14 percent of the total skilled by NSDC that year.

• More than 70 percent of certified CWSI trainees have

RESULTS received waged employment after completing CWSI training
programmes, helping individuals as well as families.1

• CWSI has secured pay between INR 6,00018,000 for its

candidates, which is above minimum wage and higher than
what is prescribed by the government.

• CWSI has been the largest partner of NSDC for two consecutive
years.

3 Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth

 SUMMARY

Summary
Centum WorkSkills India Limited (CWSI) is one of the largest skills training providers in India. It is a subsidiary
of Centum Learning Limited, a global provider of customized corporate training programmes and vocational
training solutions.3 CWSI was established as a joint venture between Centum Learning and the National
Skill Development Corporation. It offers an end-to-end skill development solution that follows a structured
mechanism, including identification of and outreach to target communities; counseling; training, assess-
ment and certification; and placement support. The Centum Skill Instructors Guild provides re-training and
career progression opportunities to CWSI trainers and helps them achieve sustainable livelihoods.

The organization primarily targets rural and semi-urban populations, with its core developmental focus on
extremely poor and disadvantaged communities in inaccessible regions of the country.4 CWSI operates in
15 states in India through a network of 974 training centres.5 NSDC has recognized CWSI’s contribution as its
largest training partner, having skilled 167,042 individuals, which represented nearly 15 percent of the total
individuals skilled by NSDC in fiscal year 2014-2015.6

Source: Centum WorkSkills

Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth 4

 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

History and development

The Government of India established NSDC in 2009 as a public-private partnership model to fund, enable
support services and shape private sector skill training providers.7 NSDC has forged relationships with more
than 200 training partners to impart skill development and one of the largest players is CWSI.8 NSDC and
Centum Learning established CWSI to meet an ambitious goal: Skill 12 million youth across 15 states in
some 383 districts and make them employable by providing livelihood opportunities and industry-linked
employment opportunities. The core developmental goal of CWSI is to provide training and employment
to Indian youth in rural and semi-urban areas, enabling them to secure livelihood opportunities. CWSI
was founded to provide learning and skills development to the vast part of India’s population in need of
employment, yet lacking skills for employability.

CWSI was formed under the chairmanship of Mr. Sanjeev Duggal as a part of Centum Learning. “We need to
accord respectability to every vocationally skilled person we meet. Only then, skill can become respectable
and aspirational,” Mr. Duggal said.9 Centum Learning (A Bharti Associate Company) is a global company
with presence in Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal, as well as 17 countries in Africa.
It delivers training solutions and skill development support to central and state ministries, public sector
enterprises and various corporate partners.10

CWSI has undertaken a variety of government contracts for skilling. Contracts have come from the Ministry
of Rural Development (Aajeevika Skill Development Programme), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen
Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Directorate of Employment and Craftsmen Training, and Pradhan Mantri
Kaushal Vikas Yojana, for example. Contracts from state government ministries include the Government
of Odisha, Assam, Employment Generation and Marketing Mission of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan Skill
and Livelihoods Development Corporation, and the District Poverty Initiatives Project (DPIP). Many of
the government programmes with which CWSI has partnered are dedicated to the empowerment of the
disadvantaged communities, including Step-Up programmes in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Chattisgarh,
the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG), Odisha Scheduled Caste and
Schedule Tribe Development Finance Co-operative Corporation Limited (OSFDC), and the Bihar Mahadalit
Vikas Mission.11

CWSI has also worked with various corporate and public sector undertakings (PSUs) for their corporate social
responsibility (CSR) activities, providing sourcing and training for these companies. Generally, the duration
of such customized training is 160 hours of classroom and practical instruction.12 CWSI observes better
profit margins for its operations from the enterprise-funded initiatives and aims to deliver more projects of
this nature in the future.1

5 Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth

 ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING

Organizational setting
CWSI is headquartered in New Delhi and has a team of 991 to manage and support the functions of its
regional and district operations. In India, CWSI operates in more than 90 cities in 15 states through a network
of 974 training centres.14 Its target populations include disadvantaged men and women between 18 and 35
years of age, rural and urban poor, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) groups and minorities.
The organization intends to provide training to a large number of unemployed youth from inaccessible
regions of the country, including troubled areas such as Jammu and Kashmir and remote locations in Assam
and Meghalaya.

Key staff positions in CWSI provide a structure for coordination, quality assurance and training. CWSI strives
to maintain a project-based structure within each state, including a state head and a quality head, to
facilitate its work with government. A placement head is responsible for the teams engaged in mobilization
and settlement of candidates. The MIS head is responsible for managing data, while master trainers are full-
time employees. At the local training centre level, skill instructors are hired on a variable cost model and the
position is project-based. They benefit from membership in the larger Centum Skill Instructors Guild. Master
trainers monitor and support the skill instructors.

Business/operational model
CWSI provides an end-to-end business model that includes various methods for reaching youth, campaign
planning, counseling, documentation, screening and enrolment, as Figure 3 illustrates.15

Figure 1: Workflow of Centum Workskills India

Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth 6

 SKILLING VALUECHAIN

Skilling value-chain
The CWSI business model can be explained using the skilling value chain approach, which is very similar to
CWSI’s own approach. The process includes sourcing, training standards and content, training delivery and
other activities that add value to CWSI, as described below.

1. Sourcing
Sourcing activities start with a structured mechanism for identification and mapping of target communities.
Table 2 explains each stage of the sourcing process, including the mobilization techniques and the use of
local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organization (CBOs).

CWSI evaluates skill requirements in the target location by formulating a jobs inventory and identifying
target communities, population size and composition, and geographies. Once the target group is
determined, CWSI also gains an understanding of the local socio-economic circumstances as well as people’s
aspirations. On this basis, CWSI maps several aspects: job trades, course content, job location, training
infrastructure and human resource development.16

CWSI launches a massive awareness campaign in the selected locations to mobilize beneficiaries of the
programmes. Local festivities and gatherings such as Dungi Pitwadi, Haka Karwana and Muniyadi provide
opportunities to talk to local opinion leaders from the community and heads of panchayat (local self-
governance organizations). CWSI also organizes additional campaigns by displaying posters, distributing
leaflets and brochures, showing movies and deploying mobile vans as appropriate for each village area.17

CWSI follows an innovative trickle-down approach to connect with the beneficiary groups. For outreach,
contact is first made with the local community, social specialists and activists, district administration offices,
self-help groups, NGOs and CBOs.18 CWSI also forms a positive connection with local resource people and
District Collectors, civil servants in charge of a district, to obtain information on below poverty line (BPL)
households and aspiring candidates.
“CWSI launches a massive awareness campaign in Once the local contact is made, CWSI
the selected locations to mobilize beneficiaries of the mobilizes the grassroots community
programmes. Local festivities and gatherings such as leaders or panchayat heads to help
Dungi Pitwadi, Haka Karwana and Muniyadi provide it identify and meet the parents of
the prospective candidates.19 At this
opportunities to talk to local opinion leaders from the
meeting, the mobilization team tells
community and heads of panchayat (local self-gover- the candidates and their parents about
nance organizations).” the advantages and benefits of skill
development programmes. The team
uses a question and answer session to judge the motivation of the candidate to stay in the programme as
well as the willingness of the parents to sacrifice an additional earning member of the family during the
training period.

The identified candidates along with their parents or guardians are then called to the local training centre
for further counseling and information sharing. During this time a screening and testing procedure called
the Thomas Holland Interest Inventory helps to obtain insights on the candidate’s career choices and

7 Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth

 SKILLING VALUECHAIN

determine the trades for which skills training is to be imparted.20

Once the candidates are selected, documentation (e.g. ID proof, educational qualification proof, and BPL
and SC/ST certificates) is collected to verify whether they meet selection criteria and, if so, registration is
completed on the same day. To manage the initial attrition of candidates, a higher number of students are
enrolled and the final batch is consolidated after 10 days with full registration and other details.21
Table 1: Sourcing candidates for CSWI training programmes

1 GROUND • Population and data analysis

CONNECT
• Cluster formation22
• Visit to District Collector office, Block Development office, etc. to
determine list of villages/sarpanchs and contact persons
• Route plan to go to field
• Conduct preliminary meetings

2 CAMPAIGN • Prescheduled visits and announcements through indigenous

PLANNING
mechanisms such as mobile loudspeakers, pamphlet distribution,
etc. catering to needs of specific area of work

3 Q & A SESSION, • Mobile van activity

COUNSELLING
• Canopy activity23
• Leaflet distribution
• Information exchange

4 DOCUMENTATION • ID proof
• Educational qualification proof
• BPL and caste certificate
• Verification and registration

5 SCREENING • Determine whether candidates meet required criteria

• Are candidates willing to relocate?
• Are they already employed?
• Verification and registration
• Batch formation for training

6 PLACEMENT / • Joining formalities like filling out various forms, providing

SETTLEMENT
documents for identity proof, etc.
• Travel
• Accommodation

Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth 8

 SKILLING VALUECHAIN

2. Training standards and content

CWSI benefits from the vast experience in training and skills development of Centum Learning, which it
uses in its content design and curriculum. To ensure quality content for its beneficiaries, CWSI designs the
training modules in-house as per industry requirements, and then has the modules validated by the industry
concerned.24 CWSI also aligns training content with the guidelines for skill training set by government
regulatory bodies. The skills development interventions of CWSI focus on several core sectors: apparel,
beauty and wellness; banking, financial services and insurance; construction; electronics; IT services; retail;
telecom; healthcare; tourism; and hospitality.

In addition to vocational and technical skills, the organization also provides courses in life skills and basic
spoken English.25 The life skills are intended to prepare the candidates to work in their particular industry
or sector, migrate to urban areas and manage their finances. The organization also imparts skills for basic IT
functioning and Internet usage.

One of the innovations in CWSI skill development training is the strong focus on ‘on-the-job training’
(OJT), which provides practical learning and makes training more employment-focused. OJT engagement
helps candidates familiarize themselves with the work environment and a small stipend, paid by the
employer, encourages them continue on to actual employment. This could be a reason for the high level of
placement—over 70 percent—that CWSI has been able to achieve in its training programmes.26

Source: Centum WorkSkills

9 Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth

 SKILLING VALUECHAIN

3. Training

Skill Development Centres: Training takes places in Skill Development Centres (residential or non-residen-
tial) set up at the gram panchayat and block levels.27 The centres are usually rented by Centum and include
established training facilities as well as mobile centres. Each centre has a minimum of two classrooms to
accommodate ‘batches’ of trainees ranging from 25 to 30 students. Classrooms are fitted with CCTV cameras
and employ biometric attendance systems for security. For residential hostel-based training centres, CWSI
provides transportation from the hostel to the training centre. Most of the government training programmes
conducted by CWSI have a duration of one to four months, including classroom-based sessions and OJT.

Training is offered free of cost to BPL students, usually covered by a government grant. For the implementa-
tion of the skills development programmes, the government provides INR 5,000 for a digital tablet, INR 1,000
for the uniform and INR 120 per day to meet boarding and lodging expenses. The total training expense is
approximately INR 36,000 ($525) per student.

Founder Sanjeev Duggal emphasized the important role of trainers : “Trainers are the essence to chang-
ing the future of the youth of our country,” he said. CWSI uses two levels of trainers: master trainers at the
national and regional level and skill instructors at the local level.

Master trainers: CWSI relies on master trainers who possess relevant prior industry experience to maintain
the quality of training. Master trainers are responsible for providing support to the trainers at local centres,
classroom audits and collection of feedback from trainees. Feedback from both the trainees and the employ-
ers helps support the trainers, update the course content in line with the latest demands of the industry and
maintain the quality of training delivery to the candidates.

Skill instructors: At the local centres, the trainers conducting the teaching programmes are locally sourced
and known as skill instructors. Typically, skill instructors possess one to three years of domain experience
and undergo a rigorous 16-day training boot camp on training delivery, content delivery and classroom
teaching processes. This usually takes place at the regional or head office level, after which trainers receive
CWSI certification and are permitted to commence vocational instruction. Master trainers supervise and
regularly assess skill instructors and provided them with coaching whenever required.

CWSI’s master trainers and skill instructors are supported by Centum through its innovative Centum Skill
Instructor’s Guild. The guild’s objective is to share knowledge between the instructors, recognize and reward
performances and become a common platform to network with other trainers. The guild also provides
incentives to instructors by providing access to up-skilling facilities, sector-specific trainings and professional
development opportunities.28

4. Assessment and certification

CWSI follows rigorous mechanisms for assessing students, who must pass an examination on practice and
theory after they complete the vocational training programme. To conduct the exams, Centum uses various
third party assessment bodies such as Ace Assessments Pvt Ltd, Anant Learning and Development Pvt Ltd
and Aspiring Minds. Third parties are usually nominated by NSDC. The assessment examines various pa

rameters including knowledge, skill, attitude, cognitive skill, etc. Certification of the vocational training is
provided by Centum and the relevant industry associations. Certification aligns with the National Council on

Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth 10

 SKILLING VALUECHAIN

Vocational Training (NCVT) and Sector Skill Councils. Successful candidates are awarded with the certificate
of their vocational and skill development training programme by CWSI.29

5. Placement
CWSI conducts placement-linked training programmes and the placement process starts early. Around the
time the batch formation process takes place, when candidates are organized into groups to begin their
training, the placement team starts mapping the profiles of the trainees for stationing. Each state-level CWSI
centre has a placement head who coordinates with the placement team to organize on-the-job training and
placement. Prospective employers may visit the centres to conduct interviews and hire the trainees. Only
when placement of a large number of candidates is expected does CWSI take trainees to visit employer
premises. The majority of trainees are absorbed within the same organization where they undertook on-the-
job training.30

To ensure placement, CWSI has entered into national-level agreements with companies and industrial units
that include Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Indian Oil, Chennai Petroleum, Axis Bank, HSBC, LG Electronics,
Samsung, Engineers India Ltd, Hindustan Times, Dainik Jagran, Ranbaxy, Blue Dart, Naukri.Com, Matrix,
Berger Paint, Bharti Retail, Mother Dairy, NIIT and JCB India, among others.31 As a global training company,
Centum Learning enjoys positive connections with global human resources teams in several companies and
they are also among the prospective employers. The high-level management of the organization is actively
engaged with industry bodies, such as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI),
which further enables industry access and facilitates employment opportunities for trainees.32

Source: Centum WorkSkills

11 Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth

 SKILLING VALUECHAIN

6. Post-placement

Handholding assistance to placed candidates is a mandated activity for one year under the government
programmes that CWSI implements, such as the Ministry of Rural Development training programmes and
Aajeevika Skill Development Programme of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). Tracking activities
are managed through a call centre service that places a monthly tracking call to every candidate.33

Employment retention varies across sectors. Longer periods of retention are found in the business process
outsourcing (BPO) and hospitality sectors, while sales and retail show retention for smaller periods of time as
candidates explore further opportunities after their initial exposure to these industries.34 Migration is often a
challenging issue for the trainees during post-placement, when many experience homesickness, difficulties
in adapting to food and language, and insufficient income to cover the costs of relocations. To overcome
some of these challenges, Centum Learning is advocating the provision of accommodation solutions,
particularly secured places to reside for the trainees, by other stakeholders such as the local governments.35

Source: Centum WorkSkills

Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth 12

 INNOVATION

Innovation
CWSI has the ability to adopt aggressive business practices of large industries such as telecommunication
and banking, and to use these practices in skill development to achieve speed and scale. Such operational
advancements have allowed CWSI to serve the lower segments of the income pyramid with a low profit
margin, and also pushed the organization to deliver to marginalized and excluded groups.

To reduce costs, the organization works with a just-in-time inventory system and maximizes capacity
utilization:
• As soon as a project is announced, CWSI starts identifying centres and mobilizes trainers for the project,
minimizing time lag between centre establishment and project approval.

• Timely procurement for the centre’s infrastructure and equipment is possible because vendors are pre-
identified and pre-selected, which ensures low-price but quality goods. Also, a mix of centralized and
decentralized procurement helps to reach remote areas in less time.

• All courseware is made uniform to avoid duplication of services and hence minimizes time spent on
procuring them.

• Maximum utilization of trainer capacity per centre is also key in keeping costs down. Trainers are hired
on a variable-pay model, which helps in overcoming any distress caused to the project due to untimely
shut down or delay of funds.

CWSI benefits from economies of scale, even more so with these cost-minimizing measures. As a result
of the high number of trainees, the organization can accommodate low profit margins and still achieve a
considerably high return on investment, thanks to keeping capital expenditures at a minimum. CWSI also
benefits from robust links to industry to develop its industry-based curriculum, find placements for its
students and assure maximum duration for on-the-job training.

CWSI also demonstrates innovation through its focus on reaching the right candidates with the right course
through its massive awareness campaigns, mapping of required skills vis-à-vis the aspirations of the local
youth, and mass mobilization techniques using the local leadership and organizations. Stringent selection
processes involving question and answer sessions and a screening test to assess which trade fits best are
also part of reaching the right candidates.

CWSI has an innovative approach ensuring quality and effectiveness. Quality assurance is guaranteed
through constant monitoring of the training programmes by master trainers. CWSI has also instituted an
innovative audit and coaching process to monitor and ensure quality of training with centre visits and
further training.36

The organization leverages iLearner, a unique internal IT-based system, to manage daily operations and
assist the scaling up of its efforts. For example, iLearner compiles candidate details and biometric scans to
ensure an individual is enrolled properly, meets all criteria and has the correct documentation. It is also used
for connecting training centres, supporting assessment and placement of trainees, and tracking reasons for
candidate drop out. Information on this system is collected at each local centre, uploaded and collated at
the head office, and integrated with government systems.37

13 Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth

 TRAINING FOR IMPACT

Financing
CWSI is a for-profit, public limited company and comprises almost 50 percent of Centum Learning
Limited. The organization receives soft loan funding from its parent company to cover most of its capital
expenditures and it also recieved a soft loan from NSDC of INR 125 million, approximately $1.8 million,
at a 6 percent interest rate, which has been completely repaid. To mitigate any significant financial risk,38
CWSI maintains a low capital expenditure rule in its project implementation. To do this, it taps into existing
infrastructure (e.g. colleges approved by the All India Council for Technical Education, private Industrial
Training Institutes and rented commercial space) and works with a just-in-time inventory system through
which all resources and utilities are supplied before the project starts to avoid time lag.39

Training for impact

CWSI perceives its work as a significant contributor to India’s social transformation. Accordingly, the
ambition of CWSI is to go the last mile to offer expanded skilling opportunities to a larger pool of trainees as
scale brings more inclusivity. Its track record demonstrates impact.

First, it has been successful in reaching marginalized and underserved groups, including youth from difficult
terrains like Jammu and Kashmir. As an NSDC partner, CWSI has also implemented the STAR (Standard
Training and Assessment Reward Training) Scheme, which is implemented by NSDC and provides monetary
rewards to candidates on successful completion of training programmes and certification for the attained
skill, and largely benefits the disadvantaged. Under the STAR Scheme, CWSI has trained over 40,000
candidates across 16 states and 170 districts.40

CWSI seeks women candidates. It also operates female-only hostel facilities, employs female instructors,
employs female safety wardens and equips its centres with CCTV cameras and biometric attendance systems
to provide security to women. In counseling sessions, parents are encouraged to support their daughters.
CWSI also provides references for former women trainees.41

A number of other services have contributed to increased impact. CWSI opens bank accounts for its trainees,
provides health assessments and hospital referrals, and organizes extracurricular activities and occassional
meetings with family members to keep trainees motivated and engaged.42

Impact is also enhanced through private sector skill training programmes that CWSI implements for
Petronet, NBCC, Cairn India and other companies, often as part of CSR requirements. CWSI is engaged
in implementing projects for Centum Foundation, the newly founded CSR arm of Centum Learning.
The Foundation draws on the content, technical expertise and experience of CWSI during its project
implementation.43

Lastly, the top management of Centum Learning is engaged in the political and developmental issues of
the nation. As noted above, CWSI Chairman Sanjeev Duggal is the co-chairman of Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry,44 which not only helps CWSI to link up with industry but also creates
a brand value for CWSI that helps it become involved in other skilling missions in both the public and private
sectors. For example, in 2015 CWSI partnered with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
to roll out and conduct mass mobilization, training and placement for the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas

Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth 14

 TRAINING FOR IMPACT

Yojana (PMKVY), which aims to skill 2,400,000 youth across the country.45 Recently, the same Ministry
approached CWSI for input into the policy-making process.46 CWSI results are widely recognized. In 2013,
NSDC awarded Centum Learning the High Performing Partner award and runner-up award for Best Practice
Recognition. It also received the FICCI LeapVault Skills Champion of India Award in 2013.47

Source: Centum WorkSkills

15 Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth

 CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Challenges and solutions

Financing

While implementing government projects, CWSI maintains low profit margins of 8 to 10 percent, though
it is a for-profit company. Some of the challenges noted by the CWSI team while working on government
projects are as follows: strict infrastructure and implementation regulations, timing of fund provision,
and lack of interest earning on these funds as they have to be kept in savings accounts and not fixed
deposits. Also, training programmes are free of cost to the BPL students and the government distributes
reimbursements to the training in a phased manner, based on achievement of project milestones. Hence,
initial expenses on infrastructure, mobilization and setting up viable centres have to be borne by CWSI.48
These difficulties make implementation of the governmental skilling programmes more challenging.

Another challenge is scale. CWSI aims to skill over 12 million people by 202249 and the organization needs
to scale operations and reach the maximum number of beneficiaries to attain this ambitious target. To do so,
CWSI prefers to incur operational expenditures and minimize its capital expenditures to try and reach out
to beneficiaries faster by setting up centres with minimum costs and time involved. As explained in detail
in the Innovations section above, this allows for high rates of return on investment despite lower profit
margins. The organization does not spend on setting up its own centres, but uses existing infrastructure
such as AICTE-approved colleges, private ITIs and rented commercial space that are in compliance with the
government’s regulations. Most of these centres are already equipped with computers and laboratories to
enable smoother implementation of project deliverables.

Retention of trainees

It is challenging to retain the students in training programmes due to factors associated with life at the
bottom of the country’s social and economic pyramid. While they are in a programme, each trainee incurs
the ‘opportunity cost’ of not being employed and earning elsewhere. Families of these students often do
not have very high regard for vocational training and would rather have their children working or pursuing
higher education than engaged in such programmes. Additionally, since most of these training programmes
are residential, the candidates find it difficult to adjust to the new environment and become homesick.
These challenges lead to attrition of candidates within three to four days of the start of the skill training
programme.50

To overcome these challenges, CWSI carefully screens and selects its candidates. The question and answer
session organized during the campaign period is intended to counsel candidates and their parents
regarding the benefits of the programme, and to judge their level of motivation. CWSI also emphasizes
the importance of OJT, which not only provides candidates with practical experience, but also showcases
the employment-placement linkages of the programme. Finally, CWSI endeavours to retain students by
engaging them in extracurricular activities, supporting them in opening bank accounts, providing them
with decent accommodation, lodging and transport whenever required, and organizing meetings with
family members and offering occasional holidays during festivities.51

Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth 16

 CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Motivating and ensuring quality trainers

One of the key components of any skill development programme is the trainer, who is supposed to ensure
that the trainee understands the requirements of the programme and is fully equipped to use the concepts
and learnings in his or her employment. A trainer should strive towards making a training programme a
useful and wholesome experience for any trainee.52 According to a needs assessment study done by NSDC,
the Ministry of Labour and Employment currently requires 76,500 trainers, though around 70,000 trainers
are in the system.53 The report also cautions that while a majority of trainers have expertise in domain skills,
many lack teaching skills, soft skills and entrepreneurship skills, which are becoming more important with
the evolving market and economy. Moreover, due to the shortage of training institutes for trainers in India,
very few certified trainers exist to fill jobs in private training institutions.54

The National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 emphasizes the need to ensure
availability of quality trainers by enhancing their career progression and development of their capacities
in skills training.55 Centum Learning recognized the need to build a cadre of skill trainers and make their
profession more attractive and lucrative. The Centum Skill Instructors Guild recognizes and rewards trainers
and supports their role in the skilling value chain.56 Contributing to the larger goal of the new national
policy, the Guild aims to create a structure that links the performance of the trainer to their professional
growth. This is done through a system whereby each trainer accumulates points on assessment of his or her
training programme. By reaching a certain number of points, the trainer is entitled to free developmental
training programmes conducted by CWSI. The Guild also serves as a platform for CWSI’s skill instructors
to share with, learn from and network with each other to develop their career paths with an emphasis on
lifelong learning. 57

Source: Centum WorkSkills

17 Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth

 CONCLUSION

Conclusion
Though a fee-based model of skills development may be challenging in India since the target group is the
bottom of the social and economic pyramid, the CWSI team maintains that skills development programmes
should not be operated on a model where students receive trainings free of cost. The organization plans
to move to a student-paid model in which CWSI will charge a small fee to the student, an action that may
help to maintain committment from the candidates and keep them motivated to complete their training
programmes. CWSI intends to launch services for people with disabilities, which will initially address the
hearing impaired. It is presently engaged in background research regarding the situation of the hearing
impaired in India, including the number of such persons, their economic conditions, etc. The organization
plans to train 1,000 hearing impaired individuals in the current year.58 Such initiatives are expected to
leverage the human development impact of CWSI’s activities.

CWSI envisages achieving significant growth over the next five years by expanding to other states and
remote corners of India and targeting new sectors. The organization plans to target the construction sector
and has been approached by the government to implement skill programmes for construction workers.59
The organization’s content team is also engaged in curriculum creation for new courses for machine
operators, domestic electricians, welders, pipe fitters and plumbers.60

1
Government of India. Bank of ideas and innovations.
2
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
3
Centum Learning website, Vocational education and training.
4
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
5
Government of India. Bank of ideas and innovations.
6
Centum Learning blog. “Centum is the largest NSCD partner”.
7
NSDC website, Organization Profile.
8
NSDC website, Our Affiliates.
9
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
10
Centum Learning website, About us.
11
Addeco, “Centum WorkSkills India Signs MoU”.
12
Centum Learning website, Skilling Solutions.
13
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
14
Sources for section 3: Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015) and Centum Learning
website www.centumlearning.com/centum and www.ruralinnovations.gov.in/centum-workskills-india-ltd.
htm.
15
Centum WorkSkills India, Mobilization and Settlement Process (Google image).
16
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
17
The Centum Skills Digest, October 2012.
18
Centum Learning. www.ruralinnovations.gov.in/centum-workskills-india-ltd.htm. Accessed 10 August
2015.
19
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
22
A gram panchayat (village level approach) is utilized whereby the local officers are contacted for
information on population, number of youth, etc. CSWI also collects the Socio-Economic Caste Census
(SECC) of the village to map out the whole area. Once mapped CWSI makes data clusters according to age,
socio-economic status etc to reach out to these people through various approaches/contact persons, etc.
23
CWSI representatives set up a ‘Canopy’ (tent) to counsel prospective candidates about various courses.
24
Centum WorkSkills India. www.ruralinnovations.gov.in/centum-workskills-india-ltd.htm. Accessed 3

Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth 18

 August 2015.
25
Government of India. Bank of ideas and innovations.
26
Centum WorkSkills India, PowerPoint presentation.
27
Sources for section 5.3 include Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015) and ‘Centum
launches the Skill Instructor’s Guild: An India first in the vocational training and education sector’. www.
centumlearning.com/images/pdf/chandigarh-19-june12.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2015.
28
Centum Learning website, Centum Skill Instructor’s Guild.
29
Ibid.
30
Ibid.
31
Centum Learning website, Corporate Training.
32
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
33
Ibid.
34
Ibid.
35
IICPSD, “Analyzing how Centum WorkSkills India contributes to country’s transformation”.
36
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
37
Ibid.
38
Ibid.
39
Ibid.
40
Centum Learning website, Training Standard-Evaluation Reward-STAR.
41
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
42
Ibid.
43
Ibid.
44
FICCI website, accessed 7 August 2015.
45
Centum Learning, “Launch of Mass Mobilization Campaign for PMKVY”.
46
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
47
Centum Learning website, About us.
48
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
49
Centum WorkSkills India, PowerPoint presentation file provided by Centum.
50
Ibid.
51
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).
52
FICCI website, Skills Development-Sector Profile.
53
NSDC, Needs Assessment Report on Building Trainers’ Skills.
54
Ibid.
55
India, National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015.
56
Centum Learning website, Centum Skill Instructor’s Guild.
57
Ibid.
58
Ibid.
59
As stated by Mr. Sanjeev Duggal, CEO and Director of CWSI at the IICPSD Workshop on ‘Skills for Inclusive
Markets in India: Leveraging the Role of the Private Sector’ held 29 July 2015.
60
Centum WorkSkills India Case Writeshop (26 February 2015).

4 OCTOBER 2017
Acknowledgements:
Editing: Beyond Jargon LLC
Initial Design: Green Communication Design
We thank our UN Online Volunteer Greta Lusoli for her contribution to the design of this case study.
Contact Information:
Yilmaz Ergun Dinc, Research Analyst, [email protected]

19 Centum WorkSkills India: Large-scale Vocational Training for Youth