Vocational courses which were considered as simple and non attractive are not going to be the same any more. It was considered as a course which produces electricians, plumbers and mechanics. Kapil Sibal, minister for Human Resource Development has taken the initiative to introduce a new ambitious project, the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF) which aims to make the youth employable once they finish their school. This is as a part of the government’s decision to make vocational course custom made and attractive for the job market. This project was officially launched on October 8, 2011by Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibal.

Present Vocational Education System in India

In India the vocational education system offers vocational courses in school level classes such as 11th and 12th. The program named Vocationalization of Secondary Education was set up by the central government. The Vocational Education Program was set up in 1976-77 as a part of introducing vocational education in higher secondary schools. The project was set up to increase employability and to supply skilled labor. The Vocational Education is controlled by the Ministry of Human Resources Development.

The course is centered on six disciplines namely,

• Agriculture
• Business
• Engineering and technology
• Health and para-medical skills
• Home science
• Humanities

A report published by the World Bank on the Vocational Education in India Says that the capacity in vocational education in India is very small and that too is under utilized. The main objective of MHRD was to place 25 percent of all 11th and 12th grade students. But unfortunately only five percent of them actually got into vocational education system. The report also says that there is a perception from the part of students and parents that the vocational courses are for those who perform poorly in the tenth grade exam.

Concerns in the field of Vocational Training

The rising concerns are:

• The industry faces an acute shortage in the number of Tier2 and Tier 3 employees which should be over come in the near future. The NVEQF should evolve a mechanism to provide a long term solution for this problem.
• Students lack motivation to select vocational courses and so proper steps should be taken to attract students to take up vocational education.
• The students passing from vocational and polytechnic institutes lack core competencies as required by the industry. It takes two to three years for the companies to train the employees to reach the required level of competency.

It is predicted that 150 million students out of 220 million students passing out school will not enroll for college education. There is a need to motivate these students to take up vocational education.

Three important issues to be considered are:

• The curriculum
• Certification
• Incentives
• Lack of qualified trainers

The plan under NVEQF

Based on the ambitious project NVEQF introduced by the MHRD, the vocational courses will be madefullyfledged courses that can be taken up along with any other courses such as arts, science and commerce in the senior secondary level across all boards. According to this project the vocational education will start from the 11th grade with a level 1 certification and there will be seven certifications till the university level.

The NVEQF will be incorporated with the regular education system which will provide multiple options for students for entry and exit. This will help students to work once they finish class XII and come back to studies after that to continue their education at any desired level. A network of schools, colleges and vocational institutions will be created which forms a system that also provides placement assistance.

The main objective of NVEQF is to produce a skilled and productive work force that will meet international standards in terms of quality and productivity and this will be achieved by incorporating vocational education and training with the mainstream education. With this the grey, and blue coloured workers will be able to enhance their skills and pursue university degree courses.

It is predicted that by 2011-12 the NVEQF will empower 20 crore students and will help to secure employment opportunities for 15 crore student who may not have access to higher education by 2020.

According to Kapil Sibal the NVEQF will help in making the vocational course more acceptable to the people who now give importance to other plain paper degrees.       One draw back with the current education system is that it educated unskilled youngsters. But still parents want their children to go for regular graduation than vocational courses. He said that with NVEQF students can enroll for vocational courses at different levels along with regular school or college level education

He pointed out that the industry faces a huge scarcity in terms of skilled workers and that India with such a potential young population India can offer more to the world. In order to give proper training to work and to get students placed the MHRD has collaborated with various companies so that the whole process becomes effective. As an initial step the ministry plans to start a pilot program under NVEQF in the states of Haryana and West Bengal. The National Skill Development Corporation has set up Sector Skill Councils that has created the National Occupational Standards for certain sectors that will govern the vocational education.

The vocational course will also help in polishing student’s communication and soft skills which makes them employable. The vocational program will offer courses in :

• agriculture
• construction
• infrastructure
• BPO
• Manufacturing
• Chemical industry
• Electronic
• Finance
• Banking
• Travel and tourism
• Retail
• Sales and marketing
• Telecommunications etc

The All India Council for Technical Education has introduced NVEQF for courses in polytechnics and engineering colleges. According to SS Mantha, chairman AICTE, the improved vocational education will help students passing out from school to get jobs easily as the program is integrated with the needs of the industry.

This vocational training courses are changing their structure towards a more job oriented and also something which you can do along with your main educational courses.