News Excerpt
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) conducted a special Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) program for workers, with the Department of Panchayati Raj (DoPR) in Chandauli and Varanasi. The programme is implemented under SANKALP Programme of MSDE.

Pre-Connect
•    Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (“SANKALP”) is a programme of the Ministry of Skill Development with loan assistance from the World Bank.
•    SANKALP has four key result areas viz: (i) Institutional Strengthening at Central, State & District level; (ii) Quality Assurance of skill development programmes; (iii) Inclusion of marginalized population in skill development programmes; and (iv) Expanding Skills through PPPs.
•    SANKALP is funded through three major parts: (i) World Bank loan assistance (ii) States’ contribution and (iii) Industry contribution.

About Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
    The programme promote decentralization and local governance for better planning and implementation of skill development programmes.
    The implementing agency for the programme is National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
    Under the partnership, MSDE is supporting the State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs)/District Skill Committees (DSCs) in selection and onboarding of the PIAs and facilitating successful execution of the programme.

Analytica
Importance of RPL
    About 70% of our country’s population resides in rural India and hence the inclusion of gram panchayats is crucial for the success of District Skill Development Plans and will provide a huge fillip to the Skill India Mission.
    Through RPL, aim is to align the competencies of the pre-existing workforce of the country to the standardized framework.
    Certification builds confidence, brings respect and provides recognition to the candidates, it has the potential to make skills aspirational.
    Supporting formalization of the informal learning of youth will supplement their efforts in finding sustainable livelihood opportunities and reduce inequalities based on privileging certain forms of knowledge over others.

Conclusion
    Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programmerecognizes the value of learning acquired outside a formal setting and provides a government certificate for an individual’s skills.
    Candidates receive exposure to concepts of digital and financial literacy and an accidental insurance coverage for three years at free of cost.’
    This initiative is part of a larger programme on ‘Skill Development Planning at the level of ‘Gram Panchayat’ that focuses on introducing Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in a structured manner in GPs of various districts across the country.