Although India is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, a large proportion of its people live in rural regions and is employed in the informal economy. Constituting a prominent role in the informal economy, the textile industry is one of the oldest and most labour-intensive in India, which is globally ranked fourth in leading garment sourcing destinations around the world. However, the Indian garment industry has a shortage of skilled labour. Vocational skills training is one of the best tools to help individuals participate in the labour market and boost productivity and working conditions, especially for disadvantaged people. However, recent economic trends and traditional curriculum methods tend to ignore the needs of these marginalised groups, and this impedes the growth and productivity of the informal sector. This article explores the extent to which a competency-based curriculum development approach can respond to the skills training needs of people (seeking to be) employed in the informal sector. The authors discuss the theoretical framework of competency-based curricula. Next, they describe the process of developing a curriculum for sewing skills training based on learners’ demands. This process was part of a study they carried out in rural South India, and the resulting curriculum was subsequently piloted in four villages in South India as an intervention strategy. The authors complement the analysis and discussion of their findings from the piloted curriculum with insights from expert interviews they conducted to explore curriculum framing and teaching–learning arrangements from a pedagogical perspective. They conclude that a competency-based curriculum approach works best in the informal sector if the targeted learners are directly involved in its planning and development.

中文翻译：

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非正规部门以能力为基础的课程开发：印度南部农村缝纫技能培训的案例

尽管印度是世界上增长最快的经济体之一，但其很大一部分人口生活在农村地区，并在非正规经济部门工作。纺织业在非正规经济中扮演着重要角色，是印度历史最悠久、劳动密集程度最高的行业之一，在全球领先的服装采购目的地中排名第四。然而，印度服装业缺乏熟练劳动力。职业技能培训是帮助个人参与劳动力市场、提高生产力和工作条件的最佳工具之一，尤其是对弱势群体而言。然而，最近的经济趋势和传统的课程方法往往忽视这些边缘化群体的需求，这阻碍了非正规部门的增长和生产力。本文探讨了基于能力的课程开发方法可以在多大程度上满足非正规部门就业人员（寻求就业）的技能培训需求。作者讨论了基于能力的课程的理论框架。接下来，他们描述了根据学习者的需求开发缝纫技能培训课程的过程。这个过程是他们在印度南部农村进行的一项研究的一部分，由此产生的课程随后在印度南部的四个村庄作为干预策略进行了试点。作者通过专家访谈的见解补充了他们对试点课程结果的分析和讨论，以从教学的角度探索课程框架和教学——学习安排。