Er Deepak Byotra
India is talking of becoming one of the developed countries by the year 2020. In this technical era, people of India are going through a very crucial phase. There is tremendous growth and changes in every field mainly in technical education. It is a known fact that the training, acquisition and utilization of relevant skills by the people is indispensable for economic growth and national development. Technical education institutions work as knowledge transmitters and new knowledge creators, sure these institutions become the backbone of a country’s future. Earlier, most of the people believed that an academic education is the only route to a secure job and social prestige .This is why thousands of young people invested vast amounts of time and money in building their professional qualification to make themselves available for high wage employment opportunities in the high growth sector. Today, good number of students exhibiting a positive attitude towards technology and attain technological literacy through technical education. Attitude is a broad concept with different interpretations and definition. Therefore, a good interpretation of student’s attitude towards technology is important. This attitude can be traced back to the pre-independence period when the purely practical education system offered to be perceived to be inferior compared to the prestigious academic curriculum. Recent reforms to strengthen technical education are welcome to encourage the integration of rigorous academic and technical content in programs. But attitudes have not kept up with the pace of change, and it remains the poor relation of academic attainment .Our approach should no longer be just about teaching a narrow set of skills sufficient for entry-level jobs, it is about preparing for careers.
There is currently a growing awareness that besides making individual growth and development through the process of education, the education system should also include a component which links the school education with the world of work and hence facilitates the students in their entry into the competitive market. The Government should start new comprehensive and inclusive education reform programme based on principles of relevance, access and quality. It could be assumed that if somebody is having the tendency to act positively toward a particular subject, would have more interest in that subject and should be encouraged to follow the suit in order to excel in the particular field. More interactions with employers, teachers in the field of technical education and students are able to continually update their knowledge on transition routes. This would substantially and measurably improve the quality of education all over the country. Teachers in vocational and technical education should be motivated to enjoy the profession instead of enduring it in their salaries, allowances and other entitlements.
There is a significant difference between the attitudes of students from rural setting who have a higher disposition toward Vocational education as compared with their counterparts from the urban setting. Vocational education provides the students another route and opportunity for continuing with their education An important criterion which has a strong influence on the public attitude towards vocational education is the extent the graduates of the vocational schools are successful in getting jobs in their skilled areas. Vocational teachers should also attempt to describe new work situations or job prospects in which these skills can be put to use. Due to rapid development of technology, distance education can play a major role in developing human resources to cater to national economic needs. It will also help take higher education to a larger number of people. It will support the expansion of technical education, especially for the working class.
Both the public and educators feel that courses should be developed based on career considerations. Educators often attack industry on the basis that industry should help the institutions by providing the employment to their pass outs. Industry feels that through taxes it supports training institutions. Equally, industry generally does not see why it should support the suppliers of workforce skills more than it supports other suppliers of inputs to industry, i.e. land, capital equipment, materials. There is need to change the attitude and beginning can be made by forming career clusters in order to make alignment between programs and labor market .It’s function is to equip students with latest skills and prepare them for in-demand occupations in high-growth industry sector. The implication of this is the dire need to create jobs and avenues for massive employment.
Technical education and training offers the best opportunity to produce an employable work force in any country. I am happy to know that the federal Government is doing a lot presently to put in place a sort of system whereby technical education would be an important and inclusive part of the existing system of education.
(The author is Superintendent of central workshop at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University Katra J&K)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel