Multi-skill Foundation Course in India: The Head, Heart, and Hands of 21st Century Learning

Abstract

This chapter examines the Multi-Skill Foundation Course (MSFC), a vocational course conceived by grassroots NGO Vigyan Ashram, and further developed, replicated, and scaled up by Lend-A-Hand India (LAHI) since 2005. In collaboration with the State Government of Maharashtra, the course has been recognized under the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF)) and adopted by more than 600 secondary schools across India. The purpose of MSFC is to promote employability, enhance student retention and increase the appreciation for vocational skills by uniquely intersecting vocational skills with 21st century skills in an experiential learning-based pedagogy. Our in-depth analysis of the MSFC includes an overview of vocational education in India, an explanation of the theory of change, and the effect of this niche reform in building 21st century skills. To understand the impact of the reform. We interviewed different actors and surveyed 111 students enrolled in the MSFC. In addition, we organized Focus Discussion Groups (FDGs) comprised of over 20 students from vocational courses, the MSFC, and non-vocational tracks. This analysis reveals that MSFC is having a positive impact on students and their communities by cultivating 21st century skills, enhancing employability, and improving gender inclusion through quality vocational education. The final section of the chapter identifies areas of consideration to further strengthen this niche reform and key takeaways from the MSFC. In this chapter, we examine a secondary vocational program called the Multi-Skill Foundation Course (MSFC), administered by Lend-A-Hand India (LAHI). The MSFC balances the head, heart, and hands of 21st century education as it aims to equip students with a breadth of vocational skills and 21st century skills, through a hands-on student-centered pedagogy. This course empowers students to apply their skills to real world projects in collaborative settings. A study of the theory of action indicates a two-fold path to achieve the goals of the MSFC: Project Swadheen (Independence), the creation and implementation of the MSFC curriculum, and Project Catalyst, a mechanism to ensure the MSFC is scaling across India through private-public partnerships. However, this chapter focuses specifically on the impact of the course in cultivating 21st century skills in participants. This MSFC is unique because of its intentional integration of 21st century skills into vocational education, and in leveraging the mechanism of private-public partnerships to reach scale in India. We begin our analysis by first contextualizing the social and political landscape of 21st century skills and vocational education in India. We then describe the methodology of our research and describe the MSFC theory of change. Lastly, we give a detailed description and assessment of the reform and conclude with key lessons learned from this analysis.