Motivations, implementation pathways, and experience insights into India's vocational education reform: An analysis of India's "National Education Policy 2020"

As the primary platform for developing a technical and skilled workforce, vocational education plays a vital role in supporting India's economic transformation and industrial restructuring. The "National Education Policy 2020" issued by India's Ministry of Education aims to align with global trends in vocational education, facilitate economic recovery, and transform the vocational education ecosystem. Specific measures include implementing the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) to improve the quality of the vocational education supply. The policy introduces several key initiatives: the implementation of the NSQF to enhance educational quality and diversify educational pathways to improve accessibility; establishment of collaborative mechanisms between internal and external stakeholders to drive systemic reform; strengthening of vocational training to significantly expand the skilled workforce; and promotion the implementation process of higher vocational education and enhance the social status of vocational education. India's experience in promoting vocational education reform is mainly reflected in the following aspects: strengthening top-level policy design and playing a leading role in policy, improving the introduction system and building a high-quality teaching staff, focusing on the demand for talent and realizing customized supply-demand docking.