ARE WE FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE WITH VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN INDIAN SCHOOLS?

ARE WE FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE WITH VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN INDIAN SCHOOLS?

When Kothari commission suggested the 10 + 2 + 3 pattern of education, it was envisaged that a large section of students who finish the basic core learning upto the secondary stage will move towards vocational education.  They were expected to be an active workforce of a developing nation. The policy also envisaged that a meaningful skilled workmen available for the country. It was also presumed that nearly one third of those who qualify at the secondary level will move towards academic pursuits leading to pursuit of higher knowledge in different disciplines of learning.

Well, that did not happen. Possibly there was a social opinion that vocational education was a lower course of study and pursuit; and only those who are academically and intellectually in the lower levels of the hierarchy of learning would have to go into that stream. This positioning was not acceptable to every ambitious parent who wanted to ensure his child to be in a white collar job rather than a blue-collar job where he would soil his hands. Over last fifty years the performance of vocational education has been dismal.

The Government on its part did not hesitate to allocate funds for these courses, but the psychological roadblock and the inadequacy of resources for meaningful performance ensured the failure of these courses.

A few reasons:

a. Psychological roadblock ( Cause: poor advocacy)

b. Mismatch between the content and skills in the curriculum with the skills in practice at the workstations.

c. Absence of support systems like reading materials, tools, poor laboratories, lack of knowledge of field skills

d.  Poor skills of teachers who taught these courses as they had vey poor field knowledge and were more academic in nature.

e.   Poor placement of these learners in workstations as they did not enjoy any priority over the students who did other non-skill courses

f.     Availability of cheap and unorganized and unskilled labour which helped the employers to engage people with lower skills for a lesser salary.

g   In many schools vocational education was taught on blackboards as there were no contextual tools or workstations for on the job learning.

h.    Resistance to these workforces in several organizations as the performance of employees with some of the skills segments outwitted those who were generalists with lesser productivity and efficacy.

And a variety of other reasons……….

Do we need an out-of –box thinking?

While everyone would agree on the basic core skill development, how can these courses nurture work culture, work ethics, productivity, quality consciousness and efficacy?

I recall an interesting experience I had in 1970 when I was recruited for a Plant operator post in one of the Petro chemical factories in Tamilnadu.. After initial training, on the first day of my visit to the plant, I was given a broom, an air hose, and a water hose and my boss said “ Get your place cleaned up.” . I got a shock. I told him “Sir, I am a post graduate in Chemistry.” He smiled and said “What if? Your qualification has no meaning. Your skills on the shop floor alone is of value..” Though I couldn’t digest it immediately, the kind of values and skill sets I learnt had a life long impact.  It is important to give the floor experience to all our technical and technology learners..to use their hands.. to understand the dignity of labour..

We need to rethink about vocational education.. to move it from the domains of knowledge certification to skills and performance assessment.

May be the courses could be better encapsulated, with specific list of skills and values and delivered through skill centers…

Rather the curriculum of “work education” at secondary level needs to be revisited with more relevant and practicable skill sets which are age appropriate and improve the dignity of labour.

Not of least importance is, the skills sets which are geographically relevant needs to be promoted with the active collaboration of the local entrepreneurs and producers to ensure vertical mobility of these learners into workstations.

Let us give skill education the same respect as any other academic education so that the learner’s self-esteem is protected and nurtured!