Training Needs Assessment

 

The Very First Step towards....
Training in Bundelkhand

The TARA Livelihood Academy (TLA) in Bundelkhand is working towards extending the reach of capacity building and training services to millions of underprivileged people, particularly women and youth in this area. The TLA will build capacities for job creation, social empowerment and income generation and entrepreneurship through a three-pronged strategy in Bundelkhand region that includes:

• Skill and knowledge building on advanced rural on-farm and off-farm livelihood options
• Life skill development and vocational training to enhance employability in the new urban economy
• Training on enterprise development with access to credit and market linkages for selfemployment

For the past few years Bundelkhand has been known as a drought-prone area, which has led to large-scale migration of the local unemployed people. The youth here is unable to make the right kind of livelihood decisions due to the absence of the right kind of skill in place, further leading to unskilled labour. That is the reason TLA is in the process of a Training Need Assessment study of the youth in the Bundelkhand region.

What is Training?

Generally, training involves the development or strengthening of the three main aspects: knowledge, skills and attitudes. Usually, these three aspects have to be taken together and addressed. So, training is about enabling people to gain knowledge, to practice their skills, and to shape their attitudes.

What is Training Needs Assessment (TNA)?

A need is not a want or a desire. It is a gap between ‘what is’ and ‘what ought to be’. Needs assessment is used to identify gaps and provide information for a decision on whether the gaps can be addressed through training.

Why is TLA Conducting a Training Needs Assessment?

The primary purpose of the training needs assessment is to ensure that there is a need for training and to identify the nature of what exactly a training programme should contain.

A training needs assessment provides the information needed for developing a training plan that is based on the learning needs of the participants. It increases the relevance of the training and the commitment of the learners, as they are involved in the preparation of the training design that reflects their expressed needs.

The result of the TNA will lead to successful conduction of training programmes for those who really need it, so that they can learn the right kind of skill as per their interests and earn their livelihood in a dignified manner.

What is the Training Needs Assessment Methodology Being Used?

TNA is an information-based, analytical activity where several means of collecting and analysing information may be used (e.g., surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, interviews, observations, data collection and analyses), not all of which are appropriate in all situations. So, when it comes to TNA - for TLA in Bundelkhand region where masses are not that much educated - a very mixed methodology is being applied. TLA has developed a questionnaire to find out the training needs but is not completely restricted to it. As per the situation and understanding of the beneficiaries different methodologies are applied, such as:

· focus group discussion
· questionnaire
· Individual discussion (interview)

These and various such measures are being followed but the Focus Group Discussion has been found to be very interesting and helpful as far as Bundelkhand is concerned.

Certain Facts About TNA in Bundelkhand

TNA is marked by inputs and the transformation of those inputs into outputs. The primary output or product of a TNA consists of recommendations and accompanying rationales. A fact what TLA felt about TNA is that TNA doesn’t always lead to training’.

As of today, what TLA feels is that maybe training is not needed or that some other course of action is more appropriate. It is also possible that TNA will lead to training in addition to something else. And, of course, there is always the possibility that a TNA will result in a decision to do nothing at all. The inputs to TNA are informational, including its triggers, and vary with the occasion.

Conclusion

TNA is a useful tool but it must be adapted for the task and conditions at hand. That is the reason TLA is very cautious in conducting this particular activity.

TNA can involve one set of activities and resources on one occasion and a very different set of activities and resources on another. However, the ends remain the same: recommendations and accompanying rationales regarding training – to make use of it or not, to pursue some other course of action, or to couple training with some other intervention. q
 

Madhuban Pandey
mpandey@devalt.org
 

Back to Contents