NEW DELHI: Over 92% of the universities and Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) stated that degree apprenticeships are more beneficial for university students than regular degrees in order to meet the demands of the 21st century workplace. 70.16% of these believed that with the introduction of new apprenticeship programmes there has been a significant increase in the demand for hiring apprentices and India will have more than 10 million apprentices in the next 5 years.

In its new report “Future of Apprenticeship in India” by TeamLease EdTech released on Monday, it looked at the evolving degree apprenticeship ecosystem in India. It found that while 1.2 crore students graduate every year, only 35% of these students are actually employable enough to join the industry and 62% of the respondents stated that apprenticeships have created a sustainable cycle of learning by enabling students to earn while they learn.

Currently India has about 0.5 million apprentices, who are employed in various sectors like which is in contrast to Germany’s 1.3 million, UK 0.71 million, and USA 0.63 million indicating the potential this has in skilling the 10 million youth entering the workforce every year.
The National Education Policy 2020 has also set the foundation for more universities to come forward and launch degree apprenticeship programs. With only four to five universities offering degree apprenticeships in India at present, there are close to 63,000 active degree apprentices currently. With more universities coming forward, the pool of employable apprenticeship aspirants is going to significantly increase.

According to the findings of this study, 70% of universities and HEIs believe that with the introduction of new degree apprenticeship programmes and a significant increase in the demand for hiring apprentices, India will have more than 10 million apprentices in the next five years.

Shantanu Rooj, founder and CEO, TeamLease, said: “In India, we have a major skills crisis. Over the past few years, degree apprenticeships have emerged as a solution to this skill crisis. HEIs in India strongly believe that apprenticeship embedded degrees are proving to be more beneficial for students. In fact, as our survey indicates, 79% universities and HEIs feel such programs provide practical hands-on skills to students making them job ready as they enter the workforce; additionally, 71% feel that students learn the nuances of the corporate world better through such programs.”

Currently the overall intake of apprentices across India Inc has seen a signi?cant surge amidst the Covid-19 pandemic – it helped organisations variabalise their costs and build sustainable talent supply chains for their organisations thereby making them resilient to talent risks.

Professor Mohd Nafees Ahmad Ansari, director, Aligarh Muslim University said that degree apprenticeships sit at the intersection of education and industry. “21st century education both in India and globally is faced with the realization that there needs to be a growing emphasis on alignment between how students are educated, what and how they learn, and how they are prepared for the world beyond the classroom.”

The report also highlights that degree apprenticeships are also helping to address the issue of dropping gross enrollment ratio (GER) in HEIs. Neeti Sharma, co-founder and president, TeamLease, said: “We have glaring dropout rates! Between Class X to university education, close to 55% students drop out of the learning ecosystem every year. Degree apprenticeships, with ‘Earning while Learning’ embedded inside, are proving to be a credible option to address this challenge. Incidentally, as our survey highlights – 93% of Universities and HEIs expressed that degree apprenticeships can aid in increasing the GER and help achieve the GER target set in the National Education Policy 2020. This will really move the needle in education and better prepare students for the future.”