Vocational Training in India is a Milestone in Nation’s Reform

India has been a largest technical manpower in the world. However, it is not significant compared to the population and has a tremendous scope of improvement in this area. In India, generally, the emphasis put on general education, with vocational training at the receiving end, resulted in a large number of educated people still unemployed. The other shortcoming in technical and vocational training in India is that the number of people graduating is more than the diploma holders. It is creating an imbalance, as more workforces are required at the lower level.

Today, various Ministries are trying to impart vocational training through innovative institutions, which are launched specially for this purpose. The vocational training programs have received many funds being allocated for the purpose. Besides, it is also being ensured that marginalized sections of the society, including women, get adequate representation in these particular courses.

Education Pattern in India

The role of education is to facilitate social and economic progress in the long run. Education improves functional and analytical ability and opens up opportunities for individuals and groups to achieve greater access to labour markets and livelihoods. Education is an instrument to enhance efficiency, but it is an effective tool for widening and augmenting democratic participation and upgrading the overall quality of societal and individual lifestyles.

As education is also a means for bringing both socio-economic transformations in society. Specific measures are being taken to enhance the access of education to the marginalized sections of society. Efforts are also being taken to improve access to higher education among India’s women by setting up various educational institutes exclusively for them or reserving seats in the already existing institutes. There is a growing acceptance of distance learning courses and expansion of the Open University system, which is also contributing a lot to higher education in India.

India’s present education system mainly comprises primary education, secondary education, senior secondary education, and higher education. Each secondary and senior secondary education consists of 2 years of education. Higher education in India gets started after passing the higher secondary education. Depending on the stream, the graduation in India can take three to five years. Postgraduate courses are generally two to three years of duration. After completing post-graduation, the scope for researching in various educational institutes also remains open.

Technical and Vocational Training in India- A Comprehensive System

Technical and Vocational training in India plays a vital role in the country’s human resource development by creating skilled manpower, enhancing industrial productivity, and improving the quality of life. The words Technical Education and Vocational Training in India are sometimes used synonymously. However, as per present practice, the term technical education refers to post-secondary courses of study and practical training aimed at preparing technicians to work as supervisory staff. The term vocational training refers to lower level education and training for the population of skilled or semi-skilled workers in various trades, and it does not enhance their level with respect to general education.

Vocational Training in India has been undertaken when the country is facing both opportunities and challenges in India’s growth story. The challenges of persistent skills gaps face opportunities in terms of the demographic dividend. Only 2.4 percent of the workers have the knowledge of technical education or training. The Indian government has a target to skill 500 million people by the end of 2022. However, a different estimate suggests that a number of 291 million skilled workers needed by 2022 if India wants to become a globally leading manufacturing economy.

Technical Institutions in India

Technical Education is the instrument in making a remarkable contribution to the Developing Countries’ economic growth by way of suitable manpower production as per the requirements of industries, Society and World as a whole. To produce fully skilled manpower/knowledgeable people in the present era of science and technology is the need of the hour.

India’s technical and managerial capabilities are on par with the best in the world. Technical Education covers courses and programs in engineering, technology, management, architecture, town planning, pharmacy and applied arts & crafts, hotel management, and catering technology. India is blessed with about 70 percent below 35 years of age. Youths are the vibrant and dynamic segment and potentially the most valuable human resource.

Vocational Training in India

The vocational training in India is based on a well-coordinated system where all relevant factors are involved. In India, such an institutionalized-legalized form of cooperation is missing. The Curricula are developed solely by the government without any participation of employers or a large number of stakeholders. It will restructure the vocational education programs with a demand-driven curriculum and a structured workplace hands on training/exposure. Greater emphasis will be on the service sector with soft skills and computer literacy etc.

• First, the primary objective of vocational training in India is to produce skilled workers. Therefore, learning sites must be alternated in India in accordance with the dual principle in the sense of the integration of theory and practice.
• Second, vocational training must be carried out in a public-private partnership where both the government and the private sector play active roles.
• Third, the cost for vocational training in India has to be borne proportionally by both government and private enterprise.

How Vocational Training in India Succeeds in Meeting the Skills Gaps?

• First, there is a wide difference between theory and practice in companies. Reforming the vocational training in India has been helping the people to easily understand the nature of the job.
• Second, private companies have started training sessions, including joint investments in training and education; they are also running well-organized training programs.
• Third, small companies are doing well in experimenting with various forms of training schemes such as cluster-based programs.

Why is Vocational Training in India Failing?

Training versus education: Vocational training in India is treated as distinct and separate from basic education. However, to work as a professional and do many jobs effectively, one needs to have a certain minimum of both, i.e., theoretical knowledge of systems as well as the practical (vocational training).

Industry and job linkages: The various vocational training institutes, which aim to prepare students for jobs, often do not have close industry links and understand employers’ needs. Therefore, the training provided is based upon outdated perceptions of what is needed or on a centralized decision-making process.

Redundant or inadequate curricula and faculty: The curriculum has remained the same for years, not reflecting current requirements. Moreover, the curriculum’s quality and robustness vary and often leads to uneven delivery depending upon the teacher’s capability. Facilities and labs are lacking, resulting in ill-equipped graduates.

Poor Quality of Staff: Lack of strong teacher’s facilities lead to uneven quality. The teachers require having regular refresher training courses in theory and practice.

National Policy on Education

The National Policy on Education also envisages the introduction of systematic, well-planned, and rigorously implemented programs of vocational education, which can be rigorously implemented to enhance employability, reduce the mismatch between demand and supply of skilled manpower, and to provide an alternative to those pursuing tertiary education, without particular interest or purpose. The policy envisages that efforts shall be made to provide children at the higher secondary level with generic vocational courses that cut across several occupational fields and which are not occupation-specific.

The Ministry of Labour & Employment has formulated a National Policy on Skill Development. The objective is to create the workforce empowered with improved skills, knowledge, and internationally recognized qualifications in order to gain decent employment and ensure India’s competitiveness in the dynamic Global Labour market. It aims to increase the workforce’s productivity both in the organized and the unorganized sectors, seeking increased participation of youth, women, disabled, and other disadvantaged sections and to synergize efforts of various sectors and reform the present system.

Role of Hindrise as Helping in Vocational Training

We have qualified trainers who are able to teach the theoretical and practical skills relevant to the industry for a qualified workforce. We provide aid to people who want to work in the industry but cannot afford the proper training. We suggest that every Industry should be required to invest in education and training as part of its corporate social responsibility.

There are problems like lack of awareness for apprenticeship schemes, outdated curricula, and cost of training. We are helping the small companies develop cluster-based training approaches to counter the lack of training capacities; industry associations are required to support, so we approached by offering funds with state initiatives. The nature and availability of training within the companies vary as per the company size. Bigger companies have fully equipped training centers, however, smaller ones provide functional and work-oriented training to newcomers, based on their immediate skills needs.

Many companies are facing some sort of skills-related problems, both in terms of quantity and quality of skills. The most frequently cited deficiency of Vocational Training’s current system was the separation between theory and practice that must be resolved. The lack of qualified trainers was addressed is another big problem. Therefore we have taken the initiative to provide technical knowledge in the schools/colleges along with the theoretical part.

Our team tied up with the companies who have expressed an interest in cooperating on skills development and basic training. In small companies appeared interested in cluster-based training. Along with them, we are trying our best to upgrade the level of education and vocational training in India.

Government Initiatives for Vocational Training in India

Vocational training is mainly provided through government and private Industrial Training Institutes/Industrial Training Centres and polytechnics. While vocational education within the formal school system lasts three years if begun in the 11th year, vocational training lasts for one to three years, depending on the chosen trade. The core responsibility of running vocational education and training in India lies with the Ministry of Human Development and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development controls vocational higher education, including polytechnics and engineering graduates, through the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The AICTE prepares curriculum design, certification, and standardization of syllabuses. It also monitors the entire vocational higher educational structure. The ministry also controls vocational education in the secondary schools through the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT), which prepares curricula, certification, etc., for vocational education at the secondary school level.

National Council for Vocational Training

The Ministry of Labour and Employment regulates and monitors the lower end of vocational educational training such as the ITIs through the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT). The NCVT is mandated to design, develop, and maintain curricula and monitor ITIs across the country. The ministry also regulates apprentice programs for those who graduate from ITIs and others through its Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS).

After successful apprentice training, the trainees are expected to appear before the All India Trade Test (AITT). The NCVT provides the certificates for those who pass these exams. Another training scheme under the ministry is the Skills Development Initiative Scheme (SDIS). The scheme is targeted at workers seeking skill upgrading or certification of skills acquired informally through courses run by Modular Employable Skills. The trainees who graduate from such training programs receive certificates from NCVT. The relevance of either joint curriculum building or a joint certification scheme with various stakeholders’ involvement has only been determined very recently in India.

Takeaway

Skills and knowledge are the engines for the economic growth and social development of any country. Countries with higher and better knowledge and skills respond more effectively and promptly to globalization challenges and opportunities. India is in the transition to a knowledge-based economy. Its competitive edge will be determined by its people’s abilities to create, share, and use knowledge more effectively. The transition will require India to develop workers into knowledge workers who will be more flexible, analytical, adaptable, and multi skilled.

The skill sets must include professional, managerial, operational, and behavioral, interpersonal, and inter-functional skills in the new knowledge economy.  To achieve these goals, India needs a flexible education and training system that will provide the foundation for learning, secondary and tertiary education, and develop required competencies to achieve lifelong learning.