Key Facts

Area	3 287 263 sq km
Population	844,32 million as at March 1,1991 Growth rate - 2.35 per cent
Official title of the country	India
Climate and geography	Tropical monsoon type.

There are four regions in the country namely:

· the great mountain zone, i.e. the Himalayas, with some of the highest peaks of the world

· the plains of the Ganga and the Indus are formed by the basis of three distinct rivers, the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.

· the desert region is located in the north-west of the country.

· the peninsular plateau is separated from the plains of Ganga and the Indus my a mass of mountain and tell ranges. The peninsula is flanked on the eastern side by me Bay of Bengal and the western side by the Arabian Sea. The India Ocean is in the south.

Official Languages

Hindi is the official national language and English is the official link language. In all, there are 14 Indian languages.

Ruling political party	Indian National Congress
Head of the Government	President, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma
Currency used	Indian Rupee
Political system	A multi-party system on adult franchise with a parliamentary system of Government

Education

The education structure is referred to as 10 + 2 + 3 pattern, with 10 years of general and two years of higher secondary education. The general tertiary education is of the duration of three years. Professional courses of engineering and technology and medicine have longer durations.

Social Welfare

A welfare state, aims to secure and protect a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, is inbuilt The state gives special care to the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections.

Economy

Predominantly agrarian economy. Agricultural sector provides livelihood to about 70 per cent of the labour force and contributes nearly 32 per cent of the Net National Product Industrialisation was launched as a deliberate policy in the early 50s and the process is continued. There is a renewed thrust through the policies of economic reform to conform to market economy. A mixed economy with public and private sectors both playing critical roles.

Executive Summary

Education has a place of high priority on India's national development agenda. The educational system is of monumental size, yet the country's overall educational and training achievements leave much to be desired. The formal schooling is referred to as 10 + 2 + 3 pattern with ten years of general, two years of diversified and three years of first degree education. Work education, in one form or another, is an integral element of school curriculum and competency based vocational programs are offered at the higher secondary stage. Vocational courses at the tertiary stages of general education have recently been introduced. Work education is inherent in the educational philosophy of India. The TVE system in India is multi-sectorial with each ministry responsible for manpower development in that sector. The TVE programs in the formal education system are either state delivered or state financed. The higher secondary vocational education program is the emerging mode for skill training for informal and unorganised sector and aims to the educational requirements for self employment. This program is collaborative in nature and its dependence for instruction on the employment sector/ industry is greater than the other sectors of formal TVE. Its national curriculum underscores communication and entrepreneurial skills along with the technical skills of theory and the practice of the concerned vocation. The technician education is primarily the responsibility of the polytechnic, and the craftsman as well as apprenticeship training is looked after by the Ministry of Labour. Educational policy formulation is a complex exercise, carried out at many levels by all the concerned agencies, such as National Development Council, Planning Commission, Ministry of Human Resource Development, many national and state level institutions, mass media and many others. There are fewer legislation in the field of education in India than in many countries. The Union Government has suggested an elaborate management set up for VE which is gradually coming into existence in all the states while that for TE is well in position for a long time. A number of steps are being taken to improve TVE in India. For technician education, there is a major World Bank financed scheme which addresses the present weaknesses in this system. Vocational education being an emerging system, is continuously evaluated and reviewed to bring in new features to improve its output and performance. The problems are identified by public men/women, voluntary organisations, mass media and education from various angles. This leads to development of a holistic and balanced viewpoint. Some of the future directions of improvement are: introduction of first degree level vocational courses, internal resource generation through the vocational program outreach studies in schools, creating and expanding the open learning system for greater flexibility in delivery for wider outreach and effective linkage with industry and the world of work. These steps also address the issue of enhancing the status of TVE, more particularly, vocational education in India.

1. Analysis of Present Situation



1.1.1 History


The process of economic planning began in 1952 through the First Five Year Plan which was initiated two years after the country adopted its own constitution. India was defined as a socialist, secular democracy, and "mixed economy", with coexisting public and private sectors accepted as the model for economic development. The objectives and social premises of planning in India are derived from the constitutional directive principles. Public and private sectors are viewed as being complementary. Although economic planning envisaged a massive public sector in the past, the emphasis on public sector is less pronounced now and privatisation is the prevailing concept. Since 1.952, agriculture and industry have received shifting priorities in successive Plans. Currently under progress is the Eighth Five Year Plan.

The First Five Year Plan accorded the highest priority to agriculture. The Second Plan aimed at achieving a "Socialistic Pattern of Society" with the accent on equality and a considerable reduction in the concentration of income, wealth and economic power. It was a Plan oriented to rapid industrialisation. The Green Revolution initiated in the mid-sixties has substantially changed the cardinals of the agrarian economy which has taken a great leap forward from the traditional to scientific cultivation. In spite of the alarming mass of population growth, the country is able to adequately feed its masses with no net import of any major food grain. It has also caused a general enhancement in the living conditions of the rural masses coupled with substantial change in their outlook towards cultivation as an economically rewarding enterprise. At the same time, the country has developed a sound infrastructure for industrial development with self-sufficiency in the production of most industrial goods. It is also an exporter of several industrial products to countries all over the world.

The Third Plan aimed, amongst other things at achieving self-sufficiency in food grains production and increasing agricultural production in general. It also aimed at expanding basic industries like steel, chemicals, fuel and power and to develop machine building capacity.

The Fourth Plan aimed at reducing fluctuations in agricultural production. It was oriented to social justice, equality and reduction in the concentration of wealth.

The Fifth Plan had severe inflationary pressure as its backdrop. Accordingly, economic stability was the major aim.

The Sixth Plan derived its priorities from the past three decades of the planning process. Removal of poverty was the main objective. The strategy was to move simultaneously towards improving infrastructure for both industry and agriculture.

The Seventh Plan highlighted rapid growth in food grains production, employment generation within the overall tenets of growth, modernisation, self-reliance and social justice. Due recognition had also been accorded to the role of small scale and food processing industries and to increasing the international competitiveness of the Indian economy.

Formulated against the backdrop of phenomenal changes in the politico-economic global scenario as well as the economic crisis within, the Eighth Plan seeks to give new orientation to planning in India. It is built on long term strategic vision of the future from the standpoint of highly competitive international standards.

1.1.2 Achievements of Successive Five Year Plans


During the First Five Year Plan 1951-1956, the National Income increased by 3.6 per cent per annum as against the target growth rate of 2.1 per cent. In the second five year plan 1956-61, however, the growth rate actually achieved was 4.0 per cent per annum against the target of 4.5 per cent. In the third five year plan, 1961-1966, there was a sharp decline of the growth rate at 3.5 per cent per annum which fell short of the target of 5.6 per cent. In the fourth five year plan 1969-1974, the growth rate target was fixed at 5.7 per cent per annum, but the actual growth rate achieved was only 3.3 per cent. In the fifth five year plan 1974-1979, the growth rate target was 4.4 per cent per annum and was overachieved at 4.8 per Cent. The economy bounced back on track during the sixth plan 1980-1985 when the target of 5.2 per cent per annum was surpassed to 5.6 per cent. The growth rate achieved during the seventh five year plan 1985-1990, was 5.8 per cent per annum which was higher than the target of 5.0 per cent. The favourable impact of the new economic policies is expected to be felt in the eighth five year plan 1992-1997, the target of growth rate has been kept at 7 per cent per annum.

1.1.3 Reforms


The current Plan also marks the beginning of major economic reforms under the new economic policy that has been pursued since 1991. Mounting fiscal deficits, an ever increasing non-plan expenditure, a loss making public sector and an ailing economy provide the backdrop for the economic reforms measures. The four successive national budgets have defined the directions for globalisation of the Indian economy. The major thrust is visible in:

1. Reducing subsidies in several sectors (fuel, fertilizers, etc.

2. Relicensing of major imports and establishment of enterprises, promoting bureaucratic decontrol.

3. Attracting foreign investments and providing a conducive climate for multinationals.

4. Reducing state share in public sector units and increasing the role of private sector in their management.

5. Reducing custom duty on the import of various industrial raw materials.

6. Stabilising the currency in the international market and making it fully convertible.

7. Streamlining human resource development efforts to conform to the transition to market economy and high-tech production practices.

The success of these reforms manifests itself in:

1. Substantial influx of foreign investment in industry.
2. Increase in GDP in several sectors including manufacturing.
3. Rate of inflation brought down to 7-8 per cent.
4. Stable value of rupee against US $.
5. Increasing forex reserve and improved balance of payment situation.

1.1.4 Future


The Government of India is resolute enough to carry forward the process of economic reforms to a point that the country is fully competitive in the international market. An important element of the requisite infrastructure for this is advanced communication technology and rapid flow of information across the world. India is one of the few countries in the world which has its own communication satellite. A satellite based multichannel TV and computer network link up with the rest of the world is widely in operation. These changes will soon bring in major breakthroughs in the field of mass as well as technical and vocational education for providing the much needed human resources for rapid technological advancement.

An area of relative uncertainty is the skill profile of the future workforce for such a technology intensive industrialisation. In developed countries, technological progress has led to a reduction in blue collar jobs and an increase in skilled ones. In the industrial sector, production is not coupled or correlated with employment in quantitative terms. Large plants in the manufacturing industry are so automated and robotised that they hardly employ any manpower for manual work. Technicians are employed to operate the automated operations. Use of information technology, while creating some jobs for skilled personnel, has eliminated several jobs. In effect, use of higher levels of technology implies investment in the use of higher knowledge and skills. Upgrading of technical skills, therefore, becomes as critical for technological advancement as the importation of sophisticated machines.

There is a need for a serious dialogue with the new industries being set up so as to obtain the manpower requirement in terms of skill competence and to secure their active participation in raising such a human resource base. As the first step, universalisation of elementary education in the formal sector with its characteristic of high social returns; and improving the science and technology components in general secondary education; and technical and vocational education after the 10 year cycle of general education are receiving high priority. However, the content of each of these components has to be suitably revamped to suit the needs of the coming century.

2. Expected Improvements in TVE with Future in View

2.1 Technician Education

Out of a total of nearly one thousand polytechnics in the country, about 70 per cent are concentrated in only 4 out of the 32 states and union territories. Many of them still offer only conventional diploma courses in a few disciplines which are outdated. Many institutions have inadequate instructional facilities and the instructional process also remains outdated; there is little or no use of modem educational technologies, virtually no linkage with industry, and poor instructional facilities in the institution itself. The skill component of the courses is generally felt to be weak in spite of the well recognised fact that technicians should be sufficiently skilled. This has resulted into large scale unemployment or under employment amongst the graduates, the actual number is of the order of 100,000. Another weakness of the system is the limited outreach to: rural population, handicapped and women. The enrolment of women is only about 17 per cent of the total while there are 70 polytechnics exclusively for women.

The weaknesses and problems enumerated above were perceived during the formulation of the National Policy on Education 1986, and a Ten-Year Technician Education Investment Program for upgrading the technician education and training system was proposed. It included the introduction of new programs to reflect emerging technologies; expansion of outreach to women, rural population and the handicapped; introduction of continuing education programs to upgrade the existing technicians and an overall improvement in quality by strengthening teacher training, curriculum development, examination and certification, modernisation of workshops and laboratories and enhancing linkage with the industry. Improvements in the overall management system were also a component of the Plan.

There is a massive World Bank project for technician education which essentially supports the Ten-Year Program. The primary objective of the project is to enhance the quality of technician (polytechnic) education in terms of its processes and products. This would be achieved by:

Capacity Expansion

· Introduction of new programs in new and emerging technologies at existing polytechnics.

· Develop a limited number of new polytechnics.

· Establish programs of continuing education.

· Expand programs aimed at women, students in rural and informal sectors and physically handicapped students.

· Initiate Continuing Education programs at selected polytechnics, and

· Construction of student hostels and staff residences etc.

Quality Improvement

· Strengthening teacher education and training programs

· Establishing state level Staff Development Centers, Curriculum Development Centers and Learning Resource Development and User Centers

· Modernising laboratories and workshops

· Promoting Industry - Institute interaction and improving internal revenue generation, and

· Establishing computer centers in every polytechnic etc.

Efficiency Improvement

· Establishing Project Implementation Units at National, State and polytechnic levels

· Strengthening the administration and management of the Bureau of Technical Education, State Directorates and Boards of Technical Education

· Granting autonomy to selected polytechnics, and

· Establishing maintenance centers at state level and at Polytechnics.

The Project is being implemented in Two Phases with the following salient features:

Phase I

· Date of commencement: 5 December 1990

· States included: (Eight) BIHAR, GUJARAT, KARNATAKA. KERALA, MADHYA PRADESH, ORISSA, RAJASTHAN and UTTAR PRADESH.

· Central Sector Institutions included: Four TTTIs at BHOPAL, CALCUTTA, CHANDIGARH & MADRAS and National Project Implementation Unit at New Delhi.

· Total Investment: Rs.8500 million approximately

· Bank Reimbursement: US $260 million at 70 per cent average rate of reimbursement. (Loan: US $25 million and credits: US $235 million).

Phase II

· Date of commencement: Agreement signed at Washington on 16 December 1991 and has since been declared from 29 January 1992.

· States Included: (Eight) ANDHRA PRADESH, ASSAM, HARYANA, HIMACHAL PRADESH, MAHARASHTRA, PUNJAB, TAMILNADU and WEST BENGAL.

· Central Sector: Union Territory of Delhi

· Total Rs.800 crores approximately.

· Bank Reimbursement: US $307.1 million at 83 per cent average rate of reimbursement (entire amount provided as credit).

Flexibility

The project has been designed with ample flexibility and scope for including more states in Phase I and more Union Territories in Phase II.

2.2 Vocational Education


A national vocational education system within the framework of secondary education is still in its infancy. Future planning much depends on the analysis of the existing strengths and weaknesses as well as certain assumptions which are enumerated below:

1. Work education and vocational education will occupy a more prominent place in the educational system and will be articulated with employment opportunities (self and wage).

2. Investment in vocational education for human resource development will face competition from other sectors of education. This will necessitate demonstration of greater efficiency of investment.

3. Education about work through the lower secondary stage will find a place in the school curriculum for proper personality development, basic skill development, occupational awareness and for better scholastic attainments in other subject areas. It will help students develop a better vocational decision making process.

4. Upper secondary and out-of-school vocational programs will aim at the development of vocational competencies.

5. Participation in vocational education of widely diverse groups will increase, and it will be a significant, if not the major, channel of education at the upper secondary level.

6. Vocational education will not be divorced from the major objectives of education per se in terms of its role in cultural and social development.

7. The vocational curricula and programs in many areas will be more and more locale specific and the curriculum development will be a more participating process involving industry and community along with the vocational education teachers.

8. Curriculum transaction will require greater linkages with industry and the employment sector.

9. The teaching-learning will be more individualised for the attainment of competencies in a more flexible time frame. The curriculum organisation would offer a common core of general area specific competencies which in turn would have variable vocation specific competencies. This would be to meet the retraining needs arising out of changes in occupational profile and also to make teaching-learning as cost effective as possible.

10. There will be greater use of video and computer software as learning materials in addition to the textbooks and other print materials.

11. The teachers will have regular interaction with the personnel in the elaborate system of management of vocational education and also will have a regular channel of promotion in the cadre of vocational educational administrators, supervisors, planners or teacher educators.

12. The deployment of part-time teachers will remain an integral component of vocational teaching-learning strategy for the sake of greater relevance to industry and to maintain quality standards but there will be a training system for part-time teachers in pedagogical areas.

13. The process of obsolescence will be faster in the future in respect of both equipment and course content and will have to be faced with greater imagination.

14. The scope of vocational education program will be extended to the first degree level to enhance the employability of graduates.

15. A national system of certification and accreditation may become a necessity in order to bring in greater professionalism in various vocations.

3. Strategies for Future


3.1 Identifying Problems


Educational problems in general, of which TVE is a part, are identified by various categories of people who have their own perceptions and perspectives. The first category comprises the public men and politicians who are in direct contact with the realities on the ground. They would like to feel the impact of any program on an immediate basis. Their concerns are mostly local and their thought processes micro-specific. The second category consists of NGOs and voluntary organisations whose sphere of work is again localised. They view the macro policy intervention in relation to and in comparison with their own programs and activities. Since they speak from their own unquestionably live experiences, the policy decisions often rest with them in the final analysis. However, their experiences are subjected to close examination and evaluation from the point of view of replicability and wider application before acceptance. The third category is that of the officials and academics who are guided by macrolevel consideration of planning and execution. They also relate their analysis of problems to international developments in the field of TVE. They show greater concern for national standards, quality, comparability, available resources and economic changes and such others. Yet another category of people are students and the community at large, who are again concerned, almost wholly at their own levels and do not relate their own needs to the overall needs of manpower for various sectors of economy. Nevertheless, their perspective of the problems provides greater insight into the problems of status of TVE, the acceptability of TVE in various sections of the society, and their aspirations which cannot be ignored in an overall analysis of problems and their solutions. The media is also an important source of problem identification in its own right besides serving as the channel for articulation of problem identification by various categories of people. The media perspective is often biased since the main consideration for the media is the commercial value of the news and it is the negative news that sells most.

It is worth examining how the various perspectives of problem identification are finally articulated and emerge in a homogenised and synthesised forms. The most important of the channels is the nation's parliament which is accountable to the people. Its debates are often very penetrating and, being recorded, must be taken into account. Its Consultative Committees on Education often hold exclusive sessions on TVE to highlight the various problems that are being encountered. As another modality the Ministry of Human Resource Development holds periodic national and regional meetings of State Secretaries and Ministers to discuss various problems in implementation. The Central Advisory Board of Education is the highest level advisory body along with the All India Council of Technical Education (a statutory body). Joint Council of Vocational Education, General Body of the National Council of Educational Research and Training and such others. At still another level, the Central Institute of Vocational Education holds several evaluative seminars and on-the-spot study visits to bring out the problems and to suggest future courses of action. Problem identification, thus, is an elaborate democratic and technocratic process which finally results in thorough analysis of problems for informed decision making.

3.2 Future Directions

3.2.1 Degree Level Vocational Courses

The participation rate in higher education in India is very low compared to many developed countries, being of the order of 5 - 6 per cent. The universities still produce a very large number of graduates, often not of a quality level and always more than the manpower requirement for general degree holders.

The first degree level of education in general subject fields has traditionally been devoid of any orientation to skilled jobs. The universities have seen their roles as providers of liberal learning and its graduates finding places in the employment world as low level general administrators, clerks and a variety of other positions in offices, business and industry. They have also been getting into higher teaching and research positions after postgraduate studies or entering law or other managerial professions after acquiring additional qualifications. The love and rush for degrees, primarily has been because the degree has been an essential qualification for entry into governmental jobs.

However, over the years the situation has changed. The jobs for generalists have been shrinking while the multiple increase in the number of colleges, universities and enrolments therein has not only lowered the standards but also resulted into an over supply of generally unskilled and unemployable graduates of the university system. It's worth noting that the number of universities in the country has increased from 131 in 1981-82 to 176 in 1991-92 and the number of colleges from 4886 to 7121 in the same span of time. The increase in enrolment, according to discipline, between 1981-82 and 1991-92 is given in table 3.2.1 and is of the order of about 56 per cent on an average.

Speciality	Enrolment in Lakhs*		per cent
	1981-82	1991-92	Increase
Arts	11.90	18.66	57.0
Science	5.79	9,04	56.1
Commerce	6.28	10.10	60.8
Agriculture	0.39	0.49	5.6
Vet. Science	0.08	0.12	50.0
Law	1.74	2.45	40.8
Education	0.71	1.06	49.3
Eng. & Tech	1.30	2.25	73.1
Medicine	1.13	1.56	38.1
Others	0.18	0.38	111.1
Total	29.50	46.11	56.3

* 1 lakh = 100,000

As opposed to the increase in enrolment unemployment of university graduates has been rapidly increasing. Although accurate data on unemployment is not available, it is often believed to be the highest amongst all other levels of education and all other groups at the first degree level. In fact, the rapid expansion of highly subsidised higher education and extremely poor articulation with the world of work in organised, unorganised and self-employment sectors, is a major planning concern in the country.

It is with this background and in response to the problem of employability that the university Grants Commission is launching a program of Vocational Education in the year 1994-95 in nearly 100 colleges/universities. For this purpose, 35 vocational programs have been set up to be offered through Science, Arts/Humanities, Commerce and Engineering and Technology faculties. In the first instance one of each 3 electives will be vocational in a 3 year program with about 270 class hours available in each year.

The approach to instruction is based on the higher secondary vocational education program. It is collaborative - the cooperation from employing agencies being imperative. An appropriate enterprise in the vicinity of the selected college would enter into a formal agreement to support the vocational education program to: provide part-time faculty, to allow the use of its facilities, and to give preference to or assist in placement of the graduates.

It is also stipulated that the vocational programs and the colleges offering them should aim at sufficient resource generation through production or services offered to the community. This is with a view to minimising dependence on external funding for all time in future as well as to provide training in knowledge, skills and marketability at the same time. Details of this concept are dealt with in 3.2.2. This concept is relevant to all sectors of TVE but is now being increasingly emphasised for higher secondary and the first degree stage of vocationalisation.

3.2.2 Internal Resource Generation


Internal resource generation by vocational education institutions seems to be a major policy direction to be pursued in the remaining years of this century. As a matter of policy and practice in the past, innovative programs of educational intervention have been financed mainly by Central Government Many items of expenditure have been highly subsidised. This lead to their initial acceptance of the scheme by some states/universities. The continuation of the scheme after the end of a given five year plan, when central assistance ceases, causes problems such as unenthusiastic acceptance, insufficient financial support from their own resources and the lack of politico-administrative commitment. On the other hand. in the absence of substantial financial support from the Centre, a new program remains virtually a non-starter.

Vocational education programs in those trades and institutions where a strong infrastructure base is provided by central financing would have to take upon themselves the role of resource generation since a model based on massive monetary input from outside suffers from the intrinsic fault of being short-lived. Massive funding would, without any doubt, never be enough to meet the requirements of large scale intervention. For these programs to sustain themselves for long, it is imperative that they recognise the following principles of financing.

Central funds should be provided initially for infrastructure and other purposes needed to start the activity.

Direct beneficiaries - students and employment establishments - should share a major burden of providing running expenses. In the present period of severe financial constraint for higher education, there may be no other option. This is true for any program which is implemented on a fairly large scale in order to have meaningful impact. It also conforms to the new measures of economic reforms and market orientation of the economy. A differential fee structure, coupled with loan facilities and generally higher fees than those charged for general education courses, will not only add prestige to vocational options but would also ensure their effective implementation.

The facilities, faculty and students of the institution should be deployed to meet some economic needs of the community on a commercial or partly commercial basis. This would help students to earn while they learn, help teachers to receive incentive money, and help an institution to improve its programs and facilities. As an added benefit, this will help students to receive entrepreneurial and on the job training. In fact, this may be the only modality to provide the practical experience of running an enterprise on commercial lines in rural and remote areas.

It is often felt that the idea of resource generation of this nature is not workable in India for a variety of techno-managerial reasons. However, there are several successful experiments both by NGOs and Government sector institutions that are currently being studied and compiled for the guidance of others.

3.2.3 Open Learning


The contact mode and closed system delivery is still by far, the most prevalent modality although a significant beginning has been made through the national open learning institutions. The programs generated by the NCERT which are taught in more than 5000 higher secondary schools as well as those in polytechnics and industrial training institutes, all use the contact delivery mode. The technical support institutions for all the above categories of institutions have, however, accepted the significance of the multi media approach in general and distance learning mode in particular for imparting technical/vocational education and training. With particular reference to the higher secondary courses, the NCERT has developed some teaching-learning video films in electronics, automobile repairs and indigenous handicraft such as tie and dye, Ikat weaving etc. Sufficient stocks of such materials are being built before schools are encouraged to use them for self-paced and individualised learning.

3.2.4 School Industry Linkage


As has been presented at many places in this study the entire vocational education program, both in high schools and colleges presupposes close linkage with industry in various sectors. The linkage is also seen as being vital for technician education where the prevailing mode is institutional. Amongst other things, it offers relevance of training to the present needs of the employment sectors, provides exposure of students to the actual world of work thereby facilitating some other transition between education and the working life, and above all, reduces the cost of expensive facilities within educational institutions. In return for the contribution made by industry, it acquires skilled and partly skilled manpower for its production purposes, offers a group of trainees sufficient training in specific jobs which may be a proper human resource base for recruitment, and above all provides the industry with an opportunity to influence education and training in matters of planning and curriculum. These benefits are more than enough to reverse the present process of drawing manpower from a general pool of indifferently educated and trained personnel.

The subject matter has been dealt with in sufficient detail in section 4.1.

4. Issues for Improving Status of TVE

Introduction

Status in any context is a relative concept. What is of higher status to some may be of low status to others. In the context of TVE also, some courses may not pose any status problem while the same courses for others may have a much lower status. Technician education in India has a higher status compared to general first degree education even though it is inferior in terms of level from the point of view of years taken to complete the degree, yet it has lower status than professional engineering, technology and medical courses which are offered at the same level as the general degree level program. Vocational courses, however, have lower status amongst urban pupils in general but are often of higher status than the Arts stream in rural areas.

The problem of status thus requires a much greater resolution in the backdrop of each country. In a situation of extremely high competition for entry of young people into higher/professional education, one may find a whole hierarchy in status. Their career choices in such situations the students are guided more by prevailing compulsions than on the basis of desire, aspirations and affordability. Yet, it would be a gross simplification to say that in view of a large rural-agriculturally based population, vocational courses may occupy a high status for students from such backgrounds. Often, these courses have low perceived demands and poor enrolment as a result of the perceptible craze that exists for a general or technical degree. Although a country of cultivators, agricultural and other blue collar workers, India shows considerable bias in its educational approach, against manual or productive work in schools which are viewed as places primarily for scholastic pursuit. It is therefore important to keep in mind some of the issues being addressed in India to raise the status of vocational education.

The example of the union territory of Chandigarh deserves special mention from the point of view of status. Here the state run schools have greater respectability than those in the rest of the country. Vocational studies in many diverse fields such as Textile Design, Hotel Management, Food Preservation, Computer Application, Office Management, etc. are also taught in the schools, though as separate vocational streams. It is quite heartening to see that these courses attract students with better academic, economic and social backgrounds than in most other states. There is no apparent stigma attached to these courses in this tiny union territory which offers some of the best living conditions and economic status to its residents.

Another instance of high status can be seen in those states of India where vocational courses are taught in privately managed schools which already have a higher rating in the society. Also, in many of the Government managed schools, which have low social rating, the vocational courses, sometimes, offer higher status to vocational courses than that of the school itself. It is worth noting that the provision of these courses within the general framework of higher secondary education, offers higher status to vocational education to certain segments of students.

4.1 Close Linkage Between TVE and Industry

With enhancement of employability of the graduates from vocational programs of studies being the major objective of the existing vocationalisation of general education in India, the linkages arc supposed to operate at the following stages:

· at the planning stage, for selection of courses

· at the development stage of competency-based course curricula

· at the development stage of instructional resources

· at the stage of teaching-learning of theory and practice in school classroom, and for practical work and on-the-job training.

While the above is the well accepted modality, some shortfalls in actual implementation may often occur.

The collaborative model, not only helps to keep the courses relevant to the requirements of the world of work, it also provides an aura of respectability to students, reduces the overall cost of instruction, arouses students' interest by providing more varied experiences compared to the traditional courses, facilitates postgraduate employment which in turn adds to the status of vocational education in society. On the contrary, where schools seeks to retain their own institutional base for education and training, the program suffers from the point of view of status. While each school can offer a case study for closer analysis as evident from several study visits to schools in various parts of the country, a few documented cases are reproduced below:

Sericulture

One of the major agro-based industries in the State of Karnataka is Sericulture. This is quite evident from the number of institutions in which the vocational course on Sericulture is introduced by the state of Karnataka at the +2 stage in vocational stream. Out of 160 colleges offering vocational courses there are 45 junior colleges, both aided and Government, providing sericulture course.

The required infrastructure facilities for the course are available to these colleges of Karnataka. The agencies involved are grainages, cocoon markets, silk filatures and the silk farms. The linkages of colleges with these agencies are necessary at various stages of silk production, i.e. mulberry cultivation, rearing of silk worm, production of silk worm eggs (grainage), cocoon reeling etc.

The Rural College Kanakapura made an attempt to promote coordination and cooperation with the local community so as to popularise the vocational course of Sericulture in the area by the transfer of technology, knowledge and expertise available with the college faculty to the community. Practical experience in various sericultural processes gained by the community was shared by the staff engaged in the improvement of silk production.

Important activities carried on through the linkages of the institutions with industry and community are as follows:

· Students of vocational stream at +2 stage are regularly taken for practical training and exposure to farms, grainages, filatures, and cocoon markets.

· Students are given orientation and training in all the above areas with the help of community and industry.

· Students visit nearby villages once a month and identify rearing houses, identifying diseases of silk worm, if any, and remedies are suggested by them on the spot. Such activities are beneficial to both community and vocational students.

In the initial stages, the college had difficulty with mulberry cultivation which was not done on a large enough scale to impart practical training to the students.

Because of the linkages developed with the local community the institution acquired the skill of mulberry cultivation on a comparatively large scale and an understanding of other allied aspects of sericulture.

In turn, the community benefited by improving on certain traditional methods of mulberry cultivation through adoption of scientific methods of mulberry cultivation and the new technology of rearing silk worms, suggested by the college faculty.

Because of the scientific knowledge gained by the community in sericulture, the silk production in the area has been raised many fold and there is an increase in productivity resulting in better economic conditions for the people.

The college was able to generate mutual trust and confidence with the community in regard to all aspects of sericulture. It is mutually beneficial. The community learns something new and useful and the college achieves easy access to infrastructure facilities available with the community which can be used for the practical training of vocational students. This is the secret that is helping the college run sericulture vocational course so successfully.

During the local festivals and other occasions the college in collaboration with the Department of Sericulture of Karnataka and other local agencies organises exhibitions, film shows and other visual media so as to apprise the local community about advantages of this vocational course vis-a-vis self- employment as compared to wage employment.

Clock and Watch Repair

A Clock and Watch Repairing course is offered by the Mahantswamy Arts, Science, Commerce College, Hansabhani. Dharwar, Karnataka. The vocational students from Hansabhani Junior College are sent to the Watch Factory, H.M.T., Bangalore, every year for intensive training in watch assembly and repairs. They are provided free-lodging and lunch facility is provided in the factory.

Training is given for three months from January to March with elementary training for about three weeks. One supervisor and three group leaders are posted to train the students. Posted along with them is an instructor from the college is After three weeks they are given on-the-job training in watch assembly for the remaining period. They are asked to maintain a work diary. The Head of the Department assesses the performance of the students. This course is helpful to students for both wage and self-employment. There is a good linkage between the school and industry. Formerly the students were sent to the factory for training during October. Now this has been changed to January, February and March to adjust with the production program. The user industry is fully utilising the students for their production and the students in return receive intensive practical training.

Automobile Engineering Technician

Automobile Engineering Technician is one of the 21 vocational courses offered in Government Degree/ Private Junior Colleges in Andhra Pradesh. This course is offered at three Government/ Private Junior Colleges. It has been well organised through the establishment of good rapport with nearby local automobile repairs/maintenance workshops. This is providing good hands-on experience to the students during the course of training, besides establishing a good rapport with the community. Further, the community workshops also help the institution in donating certain components for training purposes. After successful completion of the course the students can:

· Establish modest two wheeler repair shops in the rural and semi-urban areas;
· Go in for further education in the polytechnics in the Automobile Engineering discipline;
· Get wage-employment in the private and public sector transport undertakings.

A small per percentage of the products have taken up modest self-employment schemes supported by the State Government and other financing agencies.

Multipurpose Basic Health Worker (Mate)

Multipurpose Basic Health Worker (Male) has been running successfully for the past one decade in the Municipal Junior Composite College of Gadag in Karnataka. The effective implementation of the vocational course can be attributed, to a great extent, to the linkages which have been established between the institution and collaborating agencies and also the community. The main objectives of the course are to equip the pupils with skills to bring about improvement in the health conditions in rural areas through control of communicable diseases, family planning, maternal and child health care, nutrition and health education, environmental sanitation and other related tasks/activities.

Collaborative arrangements have been made with the following institutions:

1. Local Ayurvedic Medicine College for practical work in physiology and anatomy;

2. General hospitals for receiving training in first aid and two-week training in the treatment of minor ailments;

3. Local maternity hospital and its maternal and child health clinic;

4. Municipality for extending cooperation for all sanitation practical;

5. Primary Health Center.

The institution has also established a good rapport with following agencies/officers:

1. District Health Officer;
2. Assistant District Health Officer;
3. Senior Medical Officer of the General Hospital;
4. Medical Officer In-charge of Maternity Hospital;
5. Commissioner of Municipality;
6. Medical Officer In-charge of Primary Health Center.

The Institution has adopted the villages which are covered by the Primary Health Center. Field visits are regularly organised for carrying out various practicals in the field.

4.2 Entrepreneurial Orientation to TVE


Technical education through the polytechnic network primarily aims to meet the requirements of technicians in the organised sector. Since employment for their graduates has so far not posed a major problem, self-employment has not been highlighted for these graduates till recently. However, there is an increasing realisation of the fact that technologically oriented people may prove to be assets to the society if they are oriented towards entrepreneurship and self-employment. This has resulted in the incorporation of entrepreneurship development modules as supplements to the regular program of study in polytechnics.

The vocational education program, which primarily aims at its graduates being self-employed in several sectors of the economy, incorporates an entrepreneurship module as an integral component of the vocational curriculum As much as 10 per cent of the total school time is devoted to the study of entrepreneurship for all students pursuing vocational courses. The curriculum has been centrally developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi in collaboration with the National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development, New Delhi by involving experts in education as well as entrepreneurship development throughout the country. The course stretching over 150-200 hours, includes inculcation of entrepreneurial spirit and attitudes, motivation to be an entrepreneur and requisite competencies for launching and managing an enterprise. Textual support materials highlight innovative methods of teaching. There are a number of national and state level entrepreneurship development institutes in the country. Besides, about 100 Technical Consultancy Organisations, other NGOs and a District Industries Center in each of nearly 500 districts of India are being used as the support institutions for the training of teachers for this emerging field.

Viewed from the status angle for VE, the entrepreneurship movement brought down to the level of schools offers much promise. If it enhances the self employability of vocational graduates, as expected, the status of vocational education would be greatly enhanced. The place for degree as a status symbol would transform itself into the rush for vocational education, which would offer high returns commencing earlier than college graduation.

4.3 Articulation Between TVE and General Education

As suggested earlier, the system of Technician Education does not suffer much from the status problem in view of ready employment of the graduates in industry. Besides, these graduates do have a career mobility from supervisory and technician position to professional level job and academic status through a Diploma course which has equivalence with a Bachelor's degree. But with regard to vocational education, one cannot ignore the clear signal received from the vocal segment of the society for facilitating greater mobility of VE graduates into higher general courses. While the educational policy is to siphon-off a large section of student population away from general degree level education through vocationalisation, it has been noted that any effort to make the vocational courses 'terminal' would lower the status and reduce their acceptability. It is, therefore, felt that the educational system should provide academic pathways which could be pursued by those students who would like to have a lateral mobility, vertical mobility in their own areas of specialisation or career change in a rapidly changing technological scenario. It may be worthwhile to mention that vocational curricula are basically not "training" but "educational" curricula which includes to the extent of 30 per cent, the language courses and a general Foundation course (inclusive of entrepreneurship). In addition. theoretical knowledge basic to vocational practice constitutes half of the remaining 70 per cent. On the strength of these, the entry of the vocational graduates is not forbidden in arts and commerce areas in any university. The science and professional studies require bridge courses. The articulation is sought to be achieved through the following:

(i) Providing Bridge Courses to make up for academic deficiencies in the higher secondary stage education. Such deficiencies may have occurred since the student opted for a vocational program based on full professional competency. Through bridge courses the students would become eligible for admission into general degree level courses or write competitive examinations for entry into professional programs of engineering, technology, medicine, etc. Though accepted in principle, it has not been possible to formulate and implement bridge courses either by the Boards of Secondary Education or by the universities. Each sector feels that it is the responsibility of the other and the matter is to be resolved through dialogue and discussion. Definition of the bridge course content, instructional and evaluation modalities are some of the issues which remain to be resolved.

(ii) Entry into Polytechnics in areas related students specialisation is another pathway for articulation with higher education. This is effected in different states along different lines.

These may be in the form of:

· giving credit to vocational graduates by evaluating the courses taken earlier.
· giving a year's rebate out of the 3 year diploma program
· by reserving certain percentage of seats in polytechnics for vocational stream graduates.

Yet, some states have not made any such provision so far.

(iii) Degree Level Vocational Courses have been formulated with the dual objective of: a) providing a vocational opportunity along with academic pursuit to satisfy both the craze for a degree and requisite competencies for self or wage employment, and, b) providing opportunity for the vocational stream graduates from the higher secondary schools to follow a relevant and meaningful degree level program for better career prospects and higher social status. The subject has been dealt with in greater detail in section 3.2.1. In the first phase these courses are to be launched in about 100 colleges/ universities in the country from the academic year 94-95. This pilot phase is expected to be successful and on the basis of experiences gained, wider implementation would be launched during the later part of the present decade. It may be mentioned that a total of 35 courses identified for pilot phase would be offered through the general education faculties in science, humanities, commerce, etc. by optimally deploying the existing faculty after some retraining, by securing the services of professionals and experts from industry on part time basis and by entering into an agreement with an industry in the neighbourhood for practical and on-the-job training of the students. It is a vocational education program fully integrated with the general education since each vocational elective will be coupled with two other subjects from academic electives. For example a student opting for bio-technology would concurrently have two other fields of study such as botany and chemistry.

(iv) The open learning system, the incorporation of which is a much recent phenomenon into the Indian educational enterprise is gradually unfolding its potentialities amongst the users and educational workers alike. The concept has not yet sunk into the thinking of people to the extent that, if properly designed and delivered, the courses of open schools and open universities would render other modalities of further education almost without any demand. The flexibility offered by it is so great that very large numbers available in India in its vast countryside would be able to pursue a variety of education and training programs with their own autonomy as learners.

The National Open School located at New Delhi offers foundation courses which enables the young school leavers to make up their deficiencies and helps them to pursue secondary and higher secondary program of studies in both academic and vocational areas. It accredits training institutions and offers academic courses to workers/trainees so as to offer them a second chance to benefit from the formal system of higher learning. The learning, however, is organised at various centers located in all parts of the country and the prevalent medium is still the print. The books and workbooks are written in modular form and in such a style that self learning at a distance is possible.

The Indira Gandhi National Open university is also located at Delhi. Besides a large number of demand driven academic as well as vocational/professional courses, it also offers pre graduate degree courses. Through presently offered in relation to the existing degree and diploma level programs, the scope of these may be extended to cover all or many traditional disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics etc. which may serve as "bridge course" for vocational graduates who might have missed them out while pursuing vocational programs.