Skilling India the Right Way

Monica Bahl, Chief Executive Officer, Beauty & Wellness Skill Sector Council (B&WSSC) discusses with Kanishka Ramchandani the evolving scenario of skill development in the country and the council’s role in taking India’s hair and beauty industry to the next level.

Tell us about the latest developments at B&WSSC. Which initiatives are you planning to start in the near future?

B&WSSC, in its endeavour to make ‘Skills Aspirational,’ has been focussing on establishing an effective and efficient ecosystem for developing and imparting skills in the beauty and wellness industry, through relevant content and curriculum, courses, information database, delivery system and standardisation of the accreditation and certification process to enhance the employability of the Indian workforce globally.

B&WSSC has initiated a ‘Skill Gap Study’ to systematically understand the existing gaps between the demand and supply of the beauty and wellness industry, more so due to the recent radical changes of strategic and operational nature, caused by the pandemic. It is an effort to comprehend the sectoral trends for the next seven years (till 2030) with clear cut identification of next generation job roles.

Since our inception in 2014, B&WSSC has been leading the way in the skill ecosystem by preparing Industry relevant job roles for implementation under various states and central ministries. B&WSSC has trained 9.75 lakh youth and women under various beauty and wellness job roles in the last 8 years. B&WSSC is taking forward our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of making India the skill capital of the world and has introduced the concept of vocational education at the school level under the NEP 2020 scheme.

B&WSSC also offers a semester based 3 year B.Voc degree programme with multiple entry and exit levels at 12 Universities and 173 colleges in India.

B&WSSC has developed 25 NSQC approved aualifications along with creating 75 handbooks for trainees and trainers in English, Hindi and vernacular languages.

How has beauty education grown in the postpandemic times?

Skilling in the beauty and salon sector will continue its momentum as the industry is always in need of qualified and trained professionals and COVID-19 has widened the gap due to reverse migration of the workforce.

Beauty sector is one of the very few sectors that are recession proof hence the requirement of skilled man power always exists. This sector with a low investment threshold provides ample opportunities to the young and skilled professionals to become entrepreneurs and be a part of the gig economy.

What are your views on the current hair and beauty training that is available in India? How can it be improved to match international standards?

Beauty and hair as a sector is quite elaborate and thus offers endless opportunities not just in India but globally, which is being widely adopted by the millennials currently. Indian beauty and wellness practitioners are considered at par with global standards, and India has just won a Medallion of Excellence in Hairdressing skill at the WorldSkills 2022 competition.

In an effort to improve the beauty and wellness trainings and to match the same with global standards, B&WSSC is in the process of setting up Centres of Excellence (CoE) in association with the best names in the industry to provide best in the class trainings and achieving academic excellence through skill development, engaging in research projects and for creating seamless industry connect. These CoE would further build associations with international bodies / universities/ institutes with special focus on emerging technologies and curriculum as per the international industry standards and international workforce requirements. These CoE would also support in fostering relations across countries, between governments, workers, chambers of commerce, academia, industry and other Industrial associations in establishing collaborations of various projects of institute/organisations.

How is the Council focussing on promoting skill development and what is the response that you are receiving from beauty professionals?

B&WSSC is systematically and in a sustained manner developing the very scaffolding on which our mission shall be achieved. This includes the upgradation of training partners, assessment bodies and certification of trainers and assessors with a view to build a strong, sustainable, scalable and durable framework for the upliftment of youth and women by providing them with respectable livelihood opportunities.

Re-skilling of the trained workforce is also a focus area to bring about consistency of skills, knowledge and service delivery. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), largely refers to an assessment process used to evaluate the person’s existing skill sets, knowledge and experience gained either by formal, non-formal or informal learning and thereby contribute to improving their employability, mobility, lifelong learning, social inclusion and self-esteem. B&WSSC has trained more than 2.5 lakh professionals in various job roles and has recognised their skills across India under the fee based as well as government funded RPL programme.

WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE COUNCIL IN THE COMING YEARS?

We plan to expand our horizons in the aspirational districts of various states where people do not have access to formal education or where there exists a dearth of employment opportunities.

B&WSSC also plans to have international placement tie-ups with other countries through Skill India initiatives. Alongside emerging need to transform India’s youth into a skilled workforce, low female participation in the Indian economy has been a major challenge. This has been attributed to the lack of access to quality education and underlying social, economic barriers limiting the opportunities for women and school drop-outs. Empowering women and youth for achieving gender equality, improving the skill index, building policy framework, encouraging and enabling women’s participation are the main focus area for B&WSSC. PBHJ