'500 mn people in India need vocational training by 2022'

An estimated 500 million people in India will need to be provided vocational training in modern methods of cultivation, food processing and allied agricultural activities during 2012-2022, said a report released here Wednesday.

The report, titled "Opportunities in India-New Zealand skills partnership: Learn from a knowledge-based economy", concentrates on how New Zealand has the capacity and resources to provide vocational training in modern technologies to 500 million skilled people in India to sustain the economy.

"New Zealand is an agricultural economy and India too depends on agriculture... and we have the expertise in terms of technology to develop a scalable model," Clive Jones, general manager of Education New Zealand, told IANS.

Education New Zealand is the lead organisation marketing New Zealand's education industry overseas.

Apart from agriculture, New Zealand would also be able to train people in the field of food processing, healthcare, tourism and hospitality, says the report.

"We are not focussing on taking students to New Zealand but developing a model through institute-to-institute relationship and providing a scalable model in India," said Jones.

The report has been released in collaboration with KPMG, Education New Zealand and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) during the FICCI Global Skills Summit being held Sep 4-6.