Letters: Merits of vocational training

Apropos Indira Rajaraman's column "Jobs, jobs, jobs" (Economically Speaking, March 24), the author's statement that "unemployment rates rise with the level of education, and the highest rates are experienced among post-school diploma and certificate holders, which presumably reflects their poor employability" is partly true. The unemployed are seeking more years of education. As recruitment is a screening process, it pushes the qualification required for a job. For a clerical job that requires Class-XII schooling, we recruit a graduate or a post-graduate for the post (although some recruiters are trying to bring some change).

The Skills Commission is not a supplement to the formal education system. The latter needs to be self-supportive. The commission should cover the large number of youth who are not part of the education system and need to focus on vocational training. Today, vocational training has undergone many radical changes. Formerly, if a student learned carpentry, he would retire as a carpenter. Now, an individual should learn different skills to stand a chance at various occupations during his span of life. Technology, demographic and organisational changes have brought about this change. Vocational education is not about making a person fit into a groove; he/she must gain specialised skills and an ability to learn many other skills, too. The chambers of commerce must assign this task. S Ramadorai has suggested impressive changes in the apprentice system, though it is difficult to understand why he is not pressing for change. Indian managers expect a student of vocational training to start working effectively the next day. However, each firm needs to customise training for the new recruits to make their work is useful. In this light, we need to follow the German model, which emphasises in repair work. This is an application of Pavlov's theory of learning.

T S Ramanujan Mumbai

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