Vocational Training prepares you for a specific field of work; practical work that is specific to the trade or occupation. It makes you a skilled worker. The study includes manual and practical training in the particular art. It is a highly specialized form of education. In short, it is hands-on-training. Vocational Training has long been considered to be the vital bridge between formal learning and working world.
Training in a specific vocation deals with gaining practical experience, which seeks to ensure that the student is employable in the field of study. Such a training program is different from formal education, and is career oriented.
Ideally, you should enroll into such a training program after bachelor’s degree program, or master’s education. This provides you with the scope to have theories and basics clear, which may prove essential at any stage of your career. You can also opt for an apprenticeship program instead. This is particularly useful for professions like designing, beauty industry, crafts training.
With industries like design and fashion, retail, IT, travel and tourism, hospitality, beauty and cosmetics, crafts and cottage industries growing in popularity, the need for highly skilled and expert professionals has only increased manifold. These industries require vocationally trained individuals. Thus the future of such education seems quite good in India. It is hoped that in the near future, vocational training will diversify and expand to cover other sectors as well.
In our country, vocational education is offered on either a full time or part time basis. Vocational training has succeeded in India only in the industrial training sector as of now. There are private institutes providing courses in finishing, but unfortunately, most of them are not yet recognized by the Government.
There is also a dearth of skilled labor in India. The fault lies in the education system, which pays little importance to professional training. Therefore, though demand exists, supply is meagre. If such training is recognized, taken seriously and imparted to students, definitely the unemployment level can go down. But the authorities and also general populace is unaware and negligent towards its significance. Even if not a separate system of education, it should be integrated within the existing system. Companies will not even have to waste quality time training their employees, and resources can be utilized optimally.
In a country like India, which has a huge employable population, it is time the authorities take it up on a serious note, and imitate the West, where such a system has long existed and succeeded in social and economic welfare.
