The Role of Vocational Education in India

Let us analyse as to what is the purpose of anycurricular activity which they would enjoy and at the
education. Education is what makes us into goodsame time get groomed for the skill. These children, as
human beings, honest, loyal citizens and, above all,they enter college they can start learning repair and
makes us fit for a livelihood. This being the basicmechanical jobs etc. This process would enable the
purpose of education, we, in India have failed tostudents to develop some skills and also show their
provide the relevant education to our children in theaptitudes. For these children college would be their
past fifty years and more. When all the basic rewardsvocational centre. These centres could, at a higher
of education are not forthcoming, we have tolevel also give degrees or diplomas in the skills of the
understand that our education system has failed.study. Such institutes are the Indian Institute of
Even since 1947, educational institutes have increasedTechnology which do train the students to achieve
by leaps and bounds in numbers but, seeing the turnoutsome skills but they are too few, and plain colleges are
of these educational houses, 90% of the children dotoo many. So, the result is that trained people who are
not fit into any of the above mentioned norms oremployable after studies are a very few, and the
measurements of a good education. Seeing theunemployable masses are too large a number. Training
children, we can easily find out that neither they areinstitutes like the Indian Institute of Technology could
good human beings, nor are they loyal citizens andgive graduation degrees and even post graduation
most of all, they are not even capable of earning adegrees to the children, then the picture would be the
livelihood. Then, let us ask our educationists as to whatreverse of what it is today. There would then be more
have they planned for the future of India, by giving thisemployable turnout, and less of unemployable masses.
education to the budding generation.The system to be built up will spread the right type of
This is the result of bad and haphazard planning on theeducation and guarantee to the children a basic
part of the educationists. We have increasedlivelihood, once they come out after completing their
institutions of education in number but have failed to layeducation. With the establishment of vocational college
any stress on the quality of the education that thesefor different vocations, the trend of our educational
institutes impart, or the subjects we teach. We are stillsystem would be put on the rails, and it could be
following the subjects of study introduced in ourexpected to be fruitful. In these fifty years of
curriculum by the British rulers which have lost theirindependence we have only succeeding in turning out
significance for us today being free Indians. This is whyrowdy, in disciplined and unemployable youth. Once
this bankruptcy of achievement by our educatedthey get vocational education, their main aim of getting
children. Besides a lop-sided curriculum, we haveemployment will be fulfilled and so, there will also be
neglected our primary education and pampered theless of rowdyism from them, as they will be settled. It
higher education, which has led to a vacuum in thewill be good for the country also, for the masses of
basic literacy standards. Even our colleges which havethe young will be in a position to join the mainstream of
had a mushroom growth in the last five decades, arenation building as soon as they come out of their
turning out plain and simple graduates and posteducation outfit.
graduates who are absolutely unemployable whenRegarding imparting on the children the know how of
they come out of their colleges.loyalty and good citizenship, this must be inculcated in
Instead of increasing the numbers of colleges forthe small children in the very primary stage, as that is
general studies, it would have been better if we hadthe time to learn the finer things of life. Our schools
introduced more of vocational centres and instituteshave lost track of this essentially of education,
for the large masses of children coming out of schools.somewhere in these decades. Values are to be
If we had done this, when the children left school, theyimbibed in the very young, so our educationists must
would have some skill to join an institute and then tocatch them young to teach discipline love and loyalty. If
get a job in that skill. Even at the school level, it wouldthis is done at a very early age, then the roots cannot
be more appropriate if the wards were taught somebe removed, and we will have a stock of balanced -
skill like painting, drawing, clay modeling etc., which be awell - behaved youth rather than the ill - behaved
part of the syllabus. They could have it as an extra -youth that our institutions are presently producing.