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. © 2019, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and Springer Nature B.V.
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