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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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College degree not the only option
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College degree not the only option
A vast majority of school students in India did not get above 80 per cent marks. This fact gets lost in the celebrations of the 95+ percenters, who, in spite of scoring so well in their final examinations, still have to search for the right colleges to do their degree or professional courses. There is a shortage of “good” colleges and thus it is inevitable that many of the students will not be able to get admissions to their dream institutions, and will have to make compromises. We have to realise that for Class XII, a total of 6,27,022 students appeared in the examination conduced by the CBSE and 52,552 students for the exam conducted by the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination. Out of these almost seven lakh students, many do not get the kind of marks that would gain them admission to colleges that matter, but do they need to go to college at all, must they compete for academic degrees even if their aptitude lies elsewhere? The World Bank is right when it says: “Education is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality. Education is equally key to enhance India’s competitiveness in the global economy. Therefore, ensuring access to quality education for all, in particular for the poor and rural population, is central to the economic and social development of India.” Not all students are suitable for degree education. Once we face this reality, much of the pain and privation that students undergo at the admission stage can be tackled. We must realise that degree colleges are not an end in itself, but rather, ways of finding gainful employment and building careers. There is a tremendous shortage of skilled persons in India, and in order to meet the demand, there is a crying need for institutions that would impart proper training and thus equip the students with the skill sets that would enable them to get good jobs. In developed countries, only some of high school graduates get college degrees and a few go to universities for further education. Most of the students make a conscious choice, based on their aptitude and career plans, and take an education path that fulfils their needs and plans. According to an official US government report, 67 per cent of 1997 high school graduates were enrolled in colleges or universities. This proportion has risen by 5 per cent, after remaining steady from 1992 to 1995 at about 62 per cent. In the US, college fees are generally high, and parents play only a limited role in financing the education of their children. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that most of the students are “labour force participants”, i.e. they are either working while they are studying or looking for work to help finance their college education. How many students in India can say that? Most Indian students depend on their parents’ financial assistance as they attend colleges, looking for degrees, and then start looking for work. In fact, the government has long recognised that all high school graduates do not need to have higher academic education. The concept of vocational education and training, through which students are prepared for jobs, is based on manual or practical activities. Vocational courses are related to a specific trade. The government has vocational education programmes in place but, according to a World Bank report, “more vocational education is required to adequately prepare youth for current jobs.” For this what is needed is an expansion of vocational education, setting common standards for training and defining goals that ensure learning in fields where there is demand for jobs and ensuring accountability and good use of resources. Traditional avenues of jobs are closing down and no longer can the public sector be considered a job provider. Also, the number of workers engaged in agriculture has been decreasing, as a result of which many young people from rural areas need to look for jobs in other sectors. The way to the nation’s progress is through maximising the competitive advantage by having a large number of skilled workers. Recognising the vast need for such workers, the government has been making efforts to steer students towards vocational courses. Lip service has been available in plenty, but a little else. Practically speaking, people want education to get jobs and the courses available to such students must be geared towards the needs of the market. Unfortunately, they are not. Most of the government institutions offer courses that are out of sync with the aspirations of young students and the skill sets needed by the employers. India has a tremendous advantage demographically because of a large number of young people. But the nation seems ill equipped to provide them with the skills that would enable them to compete in an increasingly globalised economy. In fact, we do not even have proper information about the skill deficit, and only 5 per cent of the labour force has vocational training. In industrialised nations, this figure is 60 per cent to as high as 80 per cent. Even developing countries like Mexico provide vocational training to 28 per cent of their population. Every year, we export tens of thousands of students to various nations and a vast majority of them undergo courses that offer vocational training. They spend lakhs and the main reason for going abroad is that they hope to get good jobs. Many of these students do the “menial work” which they would refuse to do in India. This is a mindset problem, but it can be addressed if proper infrastructure is provided to the technical training institutes, and the students given the skill sets that would get them good jobs, or allow them to work as entrepreneurs in their own right. While soft skills like knowing the language, tourism-related work and computer training have their own place, we should not forget the vast need for blue-collar workers and skilled technical workers like electricians, plumbers, etc. The proposal of creating a National Vocational Qualification Framework and increasing the number of vocations to be offered to students to 4,000 is, indeed, ambitious and much needed. It should be translated into reality as soon as possible. As a start, facilities at various institutions that provide vocational education should be upgraded to impart the skills necessary for workers of tomorrow.
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CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University will collaborate with private and non-government companies working on the development of improved seed production. It has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ADVANTA India Limited, Hyderabad, for the commercialisation of its mustard varieties at the national level. R.S. Dalal, registrar, said under this agreement, ADVANTA India would pay for the material cost and technology. The company will also use the name of CCSHAU in its seed promotional programmes. R.B. Srivastava, associate director, Intellectual Property Rights Cell, HAU, said the university had been trying hard to support farmers and agro-industries by providing them economically viable, technically feasible and globally competitive technologies for the commercialisation of agriculture. For this, the university had also signed MoUs with Shaktivardhak Hybrid Seeds Pvt. Ltd., Hisar, and Green Gold Seeds Limited, Aurangabad, for the commercialisation of bajra and maize hybrids, respectively. He reiterated that such agreements would give recognition to the university, its scientists and benefit the farmers. Common entrance test The university has issued admit cards to the candidates for its common entrance test (CET) scheduled for June 13. An official said all the candidates who had applied for admission to BVSc & AH, B.Sc (Hons) Agriculture and M.Sc in the disciplines of food science & technology, biotechnology and bioinformatics had been sent the admit cards. He said since the admit card was mandatory for entry to the test centre, the candidates who do not receive these by June 9 could collect duplicate admit cards in person between June 10 and June 12 from the deputy registrar (academics) for UG programmes and assistant registrar (PGS) for PG courses during office hours. The varsity has planned to adopt strict measures to check the use of unfair means and cases of impersonation. Apart from videography of the candidates, the monitoring teams deputed at each centre would personally screen every candidate for their identity verification. It may be recalled that a few cases of impersonation were detected in the common entrance test held in the past. The university had not only cancelled candidature of these candidates but also took legal action against them. Special project for Mewat HAU will improve the socio-economic conditions of marginal farmers of the Mewat region through a project called 'Achieving Improved Livelihood Security through Resource Conservation and Diversified Farming System'. This ambitious project has been allotted to the university by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP). It will cost Rs 2.66 crore. R.K. Malik , professor (agronomy) and the principal investigator of this project, said HAU would be the leader of consortium which would implement the project with six other organizations, including CIMMYT, Mexico and IARI, New Delhi. Vice-Chancellor Dharam Vir would be the consortium leader. Malik said through this project, the farmers of Mewat region comprising Tauru, Firozpur Jhirka and Nagina blocks would be trained in all relevant technologies of agriculture and rural development. They would be motivated to adopt and implement these technologies to boost their
incomes. — Contributed by Raman Mohan |
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Engineering Shri Mata Vaishno Devi
University, PR Office, 15C 2nd Extension, Gandhi Nagar,
Jammu 180004 (J&K) 1) BTech Application Form & Details: Website Application Deadline: 10 June 2009 Maitreyi College,
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021 Post Graduate Diploma in Nanotechnology (1 year with project work) Eligibility: BSc (H) Botany / Chemistry / Electronics / Physics / Zoology / BSc (Program) Life Sciences / Applied Life Sciences / Physical Sciences / Applied Physical Sciences / Electronics / BTech / BSc (general) Selection: Test: 30 June ‘09 Application Form & Details: Website Application Deadline: 20 June 2009 Visvesvaraya
Technological University, Jnana Sangama, Belgaum 590018 (Kar) 1) BE / BTech 2) BArch Fellowship: For
1: 10+2 (with Physics & Maths along with: Chemistry / Biotech
/ Computer Sc / Electronics / Biology as optional subjects), English
compulsory (45%) Application Form & Details: Website Home Sc National Institute of
Nutrition, Jamai-Osmania PO, Hyderabad 500007 (AP) (Indian Council of
Medical Research) MSc (Applied Nutrition) Eligibility: MBBS / BSc (Biochemistry / Home Science / Nursing / Nutrition). Selection: Entrance Test: 22 June 2009 Application Form: Download from website. Details: Website Application Deadline: 11 June 2009 Hotel Mgmt Institute of Hotel
Management, Badkhal Lake Chowk, Faridabad 121001 (Har) Job-Oriented Diploma
Courses: Eligibility:
10+2 (with English) Selection: Interview Application Form: Send Rs 350/- by DD favouring "Food Craft Institute" payable at above the address / Download from website. Details: Website Application Deadline: 24 June 2009 Law NALSAR University of
Law, 3-4-761, Barkatpura, Hyderabad 500027 (AP) Masters Degree in Law of Financial Services and Capital Markets (2 years) Eligibility: Bachelors degree (50%) Selection: Interview Application Form: Send Rs 1000/- by DD favouring "Registrar, Nalsar University of Law, (ML-FS&CM) A/c ", payable at Hyderabad to the Director at above address / Download from website. Details: Website Application Deadline: 31 July 2009 Management Punjabi University,
School of Management Studies (SMS), Patiala (Punj) MBA Eligibility: Bachelors degree / PG (50%) Application Form & Details: Website Application Deadline: 20 June 2009 National Institute of
Tourism & Hospitality Management, Telecom Nagar, Gachibowli,
Hyderabad 500032 (AP) 1) MBA in Tourism
& Hospitality Mgmt (2 years) Eligibility:
For 1: Bachelors degree (50%) Selection: Test: For 1: 03 July 2009, For 2: 29 June ’09, For 3: 01 July 2009; For 1: CAT / MAT / ICET; GD & Interview: For 1: 04-05 July 2009, For 2: 30 June – 01 July ’09, For 3: 02 – 03 July ’09, For 4: 31 July – 01 August ‘09 Application Form & Details: Website Application Deadline:
For 1, 2 & 3: 26 June 2009 Badruka Institute of
Foreign Trade, Station Road, Kachiguda, Hyderabad 500027 (AP) Masters Programme in International Business (2 years) Eligibility: Bachelors degree (50%) Application Form & Details: Website. Application Deadline: 20 June 2009 Calcutta Business
School, Diamond Harbour Road, 24 Parganas (South), Bishnupur 743503
(WB) PGDM (2 years) Eligibility: Bachelors
degree (50%). Admission Deadline: 22 June 2009 Mass Comm Punjabi University,
Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, Patiala (Punj) 1) BTech in TV, Film
Production & Media Technology (4 years, Integrated) Eligibility: For 1: 10+2 Application Form & Details: Website. Medicine Vector Control Research
Centre, Pondicherry 605006 (Pondicherry) (Affiliated to Pondicherry
University, ICMR) PG Diploma in Medical Entomology (1 year) Application Form & Details: Website Application Deadline: 19 June 2009 Punjabi University,
Department of Physical Education, Patiala Certificate in Yoga (3 months) Eligibility: 10+2 pass Selection: Interview: 11 June ‘09 Application Form & Details: Website Application Deadline: 09 June 2009 Pondicherry Institute of
Medical Sciences, Ganapthichettikulam, Kalapet, Pondicherry 605014 (Pondicherry) MBBS Eligibility:
10+2 (PCB with English, 50%). Application Form: Send Rs 650/- by DD favouring "PLRMMDCWA," payable at Pondicheery at the above address / Download from website. Details: Website Application Deadline: 15 June 2009 All India Institute of
Speech & Hearing, Naimisham Campus, Manasagangothri, Mysore 570006
(Kar) 1) Diploma in Hearing Aid & Earmold Technology (1 year) 2) Diploma in Hearing Language & Speech (Distance) (1 year) 3) Diploma in Training Young Hearing Impaired Children (1 year) Eligibility:
For 1: 10+2 (45% with Physics as a subject) / Diploma
in (Electronics / Electrical / ITI in Electronics / Electrical /
Dental Technicians) Selection: Test: 04 July 2009; Interviews: 13 July 2009 Application Form: Apply online. Details: Website Application Deadline: 26 June 2009 Scholarships D/o Women and Child Development, 1 Canning Lane, KG Marg, New Delhi (M/o Women & Child Development) Rajiv Gandhi Manav Sewa Award for service to children Eligibility: Candidates who have made an outstanding contribution in the field of Child Welfare / Child Development & Child Protection for over 10 years. Paid officers won’t be considered Award: Individuals: Rs 1 lakh and citation. Application Form: Candidates from Delhi can obtain the application from the Assistant Director (CW) at the above address. Application Deadline: 12 June 2009 School National Institute of
Open Schooling, A 24/25, Institutional Area, Sector 62, Noida 201309
(UP) (M/o HRD, GoI) Unsuccessful / Failure
of Class 10 & 12: Online admission stream II Exam: October 2009 Application Form & Details: Website Admission Deadline: 20 July 2009 Teaching & Education Punjabi University,
Department of Distance Education, Patiala Admission to 2nd year BEd course for In-service teachers Selection: Test: 04 July 2009 Application Form & Details: Website Application Deadline: 12 June 2009 University SRM University, SRM
Nagar, Kattankulathur, Kancheepuram 603203 (TN) Admission in School of: Media Studies / Government & International Affairs / Biosciences / Basic Sciences / Catering & Hotel Mgmt / Commerce & Economics / Languages / Teacher Education & Research Details: Website Application Deadline: 17 June 2009 Alagappa University, D/o
Distance Education, Karaikudi 630003 (TN) UG Programmes (3
years) PG Programmes (2 years) Lateral Entry Programmes PG Diploma Programmes (1 year) Certificate Programmes (1 year) Details: Website Application Deadline: 31 August 2009 Pervin Malhotra,
Director, Career Guidance India (CARING) |
