New Delhi, Mar 2 : Vice President Hamid Ansari today stressed the need for providing vocational training and skill development to increase employability.

Delivering the Zakir Husain Memorial lecture in here, Ansari highlighted the need to reorganize and reorient the country''s fragmented vocational education system.

He suggested that in addition to the traditional functioning, teaching, research and leadership training, universities need to pay attention to community service and adult education.

Regretting that the structure of the formal vocational training system in the country is geared towards the educated, he said that access to as well as scope of vocational training has to be expanded and improved.

"Efforts towards vocational training must be geared towards increasing employability in the organised sector and improving the quality of jobs in the unorganized sector," he added.

He said that the Draft National Employment Policy issued last year calls for linking skill training with the educational system and offering vocational education as an option at high school level of Grade nine.

"We need to reorganize and reorient our fragmented vocational educational system that is currently spread over 17 different organisations and departments. We also need to ensure the framework of skill standards, assessment and certifications that allows for mobility of credits and qualifications," he added.

He said our accreditation and certification norms must align with global standards to empower our work force seeking employment abroad. (ANI)