In India, general education and vocational education & training have been operating as separate verticals, with very little interaction between the two. This has led to hesitation amongst the youth in opting for vocational education and training as it is presumed that this avenue would preclude the concerned individual from being able to acquire higher degrees and qualifications. In order to facilitate mobility from vocational to general education, and vice-versa, a qualification framework for India, i.e. the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) will help make qualifications more understandable and transparent.

The need for the NSQF arises due to the following additional reasons:

• Till now the focus of education and training has been almost entirely on inputs. The NSQF is based on an outcomes-based approach, and each level in the NSQF is defined and described in terms of competency levels that would need to be achieved. Job roles corresponding to each of these competency levels would be ascertained with the involvement of industry, through the respective Sector Skill Councils (SSCs).

• Pathways of learning and progression, especially on the vocational education and training front, are generally unclear or absent. There is no clear provision for vertical or horizontal mobility. The NSQF will make the progression pathways transparent so that institutes, students and employers are clear as to what they can or cannot do after pursuing a particular course and address the issues of inequity and disparity in qualifications

• There is lack of uniformity in the outcomes associated with different qualifications across institutions, each with its own duration, curriculum, entry requirements as well as title. This often leads to problems in establishing equivalence of certificates/diplomas/ degrees in different parts of the country, which in turn impacts the employability and mobility of students

• The negative perception associated with vocational education and training can be significantly removed by the development of quality qualifications that also permit acquisition of higher qualifications, including degrees and doctorates

• There exist a large section of people who have acquired skills in the informal sector but who do not have the necessary formal certifications to attest to their skills. As a competency-based and outcomes based qualification framework, NSQF will facilitate

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) that is largely lacking in the present education and training scenario

• Majority of Indian qualifications are not recognised internationally and vice-versa. This creates a problem for the students and workers as their international mobility is adversely affected and they often have to undergo a course again to get a qualification that is recognised in the host country. The NSQF will also help alignment of Indian qualifications to international qualifications in accordance with relevant bilateral and multilateral agreements. Many countries are already in the process of aligning their qualifications to international qualifications through qualification frameworks

• The credit accumulation and transfer system that will be integrated in the NSQF will allow people to move between education, vocational training and work at different stages in their lives according to their needs and convenience. It will be possible for a student to leave education domain, get some practical experience in industry and return to studies to gain qualifications to progress higher in his chosen career.