Page 72 - EducationWorld September 2020

Special Report

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
Siddharth Chaturvedi
My proposals to smoothly integrate • Overhaul higher education assess-
VET into school education are: ment systems to also evaluate practi-
• Map schools with nearby vocational cal knowledge of vocational trades and
training and skill development centres skills
• Allow trainers/faculty of VET insti- • Launch a nationwide VET faculty ca-
tutes to take classes in mainstream pacity building/upskilling programme
schools to provide trained teachers for large-
• Allot equal credits to vocational scale infusion of VET programmes in
subjects as to other subjects in school higher education institutions.
curriculums
• Encourage schools to install practice NEP 2020 has proposed a National Com-
labs in partnership with private VET mittee for the Integration of Vocational
institutes. Education (NCIVE). What should be the
composition and time frame of the com-
NEP 2020 has set a target of 50 percent of mittee?
all children and youth to master a voca- Careful composition of this committee
tional skill by 2025. How realistic is this? is imperative for universalising VET.
It’s daunting but feasible if we take a Therefore, NCIVE should comprise
n engineering and business collaborative, holistic approach. To representatives from government
management alumnus of NIT, achieve this target, the country’s 1.5 bodies such as MSDE, NCVET, DGET,
ABhopal, and the S.P. Jain In- million schools need to closely collab- SSC, and NSDC; private sector VET
stitute of Management & Research, orate with neighbouring skill training experts; representatives from the Pan-
Mumbai, with five years of work centres, ITIs, polytechnics, industry, dit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute
experience in blue-chip corporates agriculture and allied sectors to de- of Vocational Education, Bhopal to
(ITC, IBM), Siddharth Chaturvedi is velop and deliver age-appropriate undertake training of trainers (TOT);
executive vice president of the family- VET programmes to school children. and industry associations. The NCIVE
promoted AISECT Group (estb.1985) Even if we miss the target, we will still should start work by early 2021.
of higher education institutions. The cover plenty of ground over the next
AISECT Group manages 23,000 vo- five years. What do you see as major implementa-
cational skills centres in 517 districts tion roadblocks for integrating vocational
countrywide, and five universities in Your suggestions for integrating VET into education into schools and HEIs?
Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar higher education… • Resistance from faculty, perhaps
and Chhattisgarh with an aggregate • Map QP (qualification pack)-based parents
enrolment of over 100,000 students. content of industry trades with under- • Identification of appropriate voca-
grad curriculums tional trades by schools
How satisfied are you with NEP 2020’s • Facilitate apprenticeship-based • Developing good quality and age-
proposals for vocational education and skilling and training of tertiary stu- appropriate content and curriculums
training (VET)? dents in large and/or MSME compa- for vocational trades
Even if belatedly, NEP 2020 has right- nies • Collaboration between industry and
ly acknowledged skill development vocational training institutions, espe-
and vocational training as integral to Even if belatedly, NEP 2020 cially in rural areas
holistic education. It seeks to develop has rightly acknowledged • Schools recruiting sufficiently
appreciation of differing vocations skilled VET trainers.
through hands-on learning and proj- skill development and
ects, starting from primary school. I vocational training Is there any important area of vocational
am delighted that NEP 2020 has ac- education which NEP 2020 has failed to
cepted our long-standing demand to as integral to holistic address?
integrate VET into the formal educa- education... and accepted NEP 2020 hasn’t stressed the im-
tion system. portance of students charting career
our long-standing demand progression pathways through coun-
What are your suggestions for smooth in- to integrate VET into the selling and psychometric testing. I
tegration of VET into mainstream school formal education system hope this will find a place in the policy
education as recommended by NEP 2020? implementation roadmap.

72 EDUCATIONWORLD SEPTEMBER 2020