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“The NVQ Framework provides a mechanism and pathways to move from academic education to vocational training to a career and backwards. There is vertical mobility” Sharda Prasad
Director General, Employment and Training, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India
stated, on the reason for low adoption, that parents have not taken introduction of vocational education very positively and are apprehensive about these courses in school and feel that it will divert student’s attention from core subjects. Agreeing to this concern, Preeti D’mello, Regional Director-Indian Subcontinent, Edexcel says, “To enhance the quality of education India, Vocational education is mandatory and overall we have received an overwhelming response for vocational education from students and teachers. I think that you need to show the value of this education to the society. It has to do with Issue pertaining to the strata of society we live in. Furniture designer is considered to be in top level thing and carpenter is not. This has to be changed with mind shift.” More recent information suggests that the enrolment figure is less than 3 per cent of the students attending Grades 11-12. The weighted average capacity utilisation of the schools receiving grants is less than 50 per cent. This implies that the 350,000400,000 students enrolled in vocational education comprise 3 per cent of the 15 million students or more in Grades 11 and 12. Thus, what it eventually means is that less than 1 per cent of students who had entered Grade 1 over the last decade or so would have eventually participated in vocational education. It is also widely recognised that the existing student capacity in ITIs/ITCs largely goes unutilised. Due to societal pressure, adoption of vocational course is low therefore system is failed to attract good teachers in
this field. Revision of existing curricula and introduction of new courses is also one of the reasons. It has seen that in some states, the course curriculum has not been updated for 20 or more years, so even if students have completed VET qualifications, they may not be employable in modern industry. Due to the transition of the Indian economy from being agriculture-based to knowledge-based, it is all the more imperative to have new and revised courses which fulfil the requirement of modern industries. Of the trained candidates, the labour market outcomes as seen from placement/ absorption rates are reportedly very low. Good trainers have always been an issue with vocational education in India. Because of societal pressures, the segment has failed to attract good mentors. Teachers in general are poorly paid in India and
the salaries of teachers in VET have been at the lower end of the spectrum. In many cases, in rural polytechnics or technical institutes, the teachers themselves have had only basic education. There exists a provision for the participation of industry representatives/ experts in the setting of curriculum and hiring of apprentices, there is still a significant mismatch between industry skill requirements and the talent pool emerging from ITIs/ITCs. This has contributed to low success in the labour market for VET graduates. The private sector largely undertakes in-house training programmes but training to outsiders is very limited, restricted to catering to their own felt needs in the nature of captive skill development. This is largely because of the fear of losing trained skilled workers to competition which has resulted in constant shortages in private investment in this area.
Opportunities in Vocational Education Job Opportunities There are certain service or job sectors that Vocationalistion of education has certainly given an impetus to certain service sectors giving rural youth economic opportunities to contribute to the country’s growth. RIS (Research and Information System for Developing Countries) report released by Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, revealed that exports
“To enhance the quality of education in India, Vocational education is mandatory and overall we have received an overwhelming response for vocational education from students and teachers” Preeti D’mello
Regional Director-Indian Subcontinent, Edexcel
digitalLEARNING / june 2011
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