GRAAM Releases Report on 21st Century Skills

GRAAM releases ‘State of the Sector Report 2022’ on 21st Century Skills in India under UNICEF’s YuWaah project

The Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement (GRAAM), a public policy research and advocacy initiative in India, has released a comprehensive report titled “21st Century Skills in India; State of the Sector Report 2022” under UNICEF’s YuWaah project. The report, launched by the Secretary to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship at a national conference, aims to build a collective understanding of India-centred assessments and interventions of 21st century skills.

The report discusses the significance of these skills, the state of policy on such skills in India, and in-depth landscape analysis of organisations imparting them, along with challenges faced, best practices, and opportunities. The report concludes with expert recommendations providing a framework for organisations, institutes, and government departments working towards mainstreaming 21st century skills. GRAAM’s Executive Director emphasises the need for developing an operational framework to integrate these skills into the school system.

YuWaah’s core mission is to enable India’s youth and connect them to aspirational socio-economic opportunities while encouraging them to become active change-makers. Through multi-sector partnerships, YuWaah aims to facilitate the development of relevant skills for 200 million youth, partner with 300 million youth to create spaces for developing leadership skills, and build pathways for 100 million youth to aspirational economic opportunities by 2030. YuWaah employs a two-pronged strategy to identify successful, scalable initiatives and foster breakthrough innovation in whitespaces.

YuWaah has established a secretariat, task forces, and a board to support its mission.

• The organisation is developing partnerships with various stakeholders, including government departments, private sector, civil society, and multilaterals.
• YuWaah plans to identify and support at least 10 solutions (3 for each key goal) that will scale up economic opportunities, life and livelihood skills for youth, and youth as change makers.
• The organisation is activating its plans in four states, namely Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Punjab.
• YuWaah aims to bring about societal change by empowering and engaging India’s youth.