Asian-Pacific Aquaculture 2019

June 19 - 21, 2019

Chennai Tamil Nadu - India

USING PROGRESSIVE WEB APPS (PWAS) FOR IMPROVING EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS

Kiranmayi, D*., and Arpita Sharma
 *Ph.D. Research Scholar
 Fisheries Economics, Extension & Statistics Division
 ICAR- Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai - 400061, India  
 Email: kiranmayi.fexpa804@cife.edu.in
 

According to India Skills Report 2019, availability of employable talent continues to rise, reaching a new high of 47.38%, with an incremental change of 1.78 percentage points since last year and a change of over 13.43% points in the past 5 years, with engineers being most employable. Men and women employability are 47.39% and 45.6% respectively. Maharashtra had the highest hiring among states, followed by Karnataka and Delhi whereas states with maximum employable talent are Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Employability levels of B.Tech/B.E have increased across all the sectors with 57.09%. India Skills Report 2019, do not have a separate report on agriculture/fisheries but fisheries is the fastest growing subsectors of agriculture producing a number of graduates and post graduates every year. Government, Non- Government and the Corporate sector offer diversified career opportunities. In the changing scenario of fisheries and aquaculture, Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI) has identified 26 job roles fisheries and aquaculture with National Occupational Standards and Qualification Packs. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is in the process of content development and ASCI is in the process of implementing the Recognition of Prior Learning programme in fisheries sector. But, often skill gaps in graduates are reported, so an important element of any human resource development programme should be to develop employability skills. Recent advances in information technology and mobile apps can help in this. However, not much information is available on dedicated apps which impart fisheries education to students. Thus, a study was done with the objective of compiling different mobile apps in fisheries sector for which virtual information was used using google search and virtual product snow ball sampling (VPSS) method devised by Sharma (2018). A total of 85 mobile apps were located in fields of Angling, Aquaculture, Aquarium Management, Marine Fisheries and Fisheries Governance, Marketing and Biology out of which 17.65% apps were of Indian origin. Apps providing information on marine fisheries were maximum. However, no dedicated apps were available imparting education to students so as to bridge the employability gaps and enhance the talent pool. With the growing number of youth having access to mobile phones and handheld devices, the knowledge and information has great potential to reach many in the country at low costs. The digital technology is on the rise and is a great boon for skilling as it helps people learn on the move and develop their employability skills. Technologies such as mobile apps and progressive web apps can all be used to develop authentic learning experiences. However, even when native apps can provide finest user experience, they are limited to certain devices and have high barriers to adoption like requiring a download. The newest mobile solution is emerging with the Progressive Web Apps (PWA) as it combines the best elements of mobile websites and native apps while mitigating their disadvantages. PWA's are the traditional web applications that are enhanced with modern web technologies, allowing providing a more app like experience. They are more efficient, works on demand, always accessible and stay up to date. An exclusive PWA for fisheries graduates and post graduates can serve as a tool in developing their employability skills as in the coming years skills will be required in the areas of fisheries and aquaculture using artificial intelligence, block chain technologies, data science and internet of things.