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Leave a commentChanging facets of vocational education
Vocational education needs to keep pace with the changing trends and requirements of the industry. Outdated training methods and skills will not help our economy, writes Sachin Adhikari.
The combined forces of globalisation, technological change and liberalisation of markets are creating a more competitive economic environment and changing the very nature of work and work organisation. While these forces are creating new job opportunities, they are also increasing the workers’ vulnerability.
Additionally, being knowledge-driven, the quality of the labour force has become a major determinant in the competitiveness and adaptability of enterprises, workers and the economy. All of this poses a challenge to the vocational education and training (VET) systems to meet the rapidly and continuously changing labour market demands.
India is at a threshold, where skilling is the only way it can utilise its huge youth entering the workforce. Vocational training can help bridge employability gap on one hand, while providing effective employment on the other. However, it is most crucial to remember that such trainings need to keep pace with the changing trends and requirements of the industry.
With respect to this, education and training systems face multiple challenges. Firstly, in order to equip workers who are already employed with new skills and competencies, they need to develop a system of continuous in-service training that can respond flexibly and rapidly to labour market requirements. Secondly, they need to offer youth the sound education and broad initial training that will give them a solid basis for continuing training throughout their working life.
Thirdly, they must ensure access to opportunities to the unemployed, the disadvantaged and those at risk. The world of work is evolving and with it, the role of VET. The far-reaching transformation of the global economy is compelling governments and even the private sector to rethink their development strategy in general, and VET in particular.
With respect to India which is depending on VET for skilling and optimising its huge demographic dividend, technology can be a boon, if properly utilised. Technology can not only help policy makers and training institutions, but also help the young Indians take a more proactive approach in working with government and the private sector. Rapid innovations in technology have fundamentally altered the economy and changed the landscape for mainstream education and skills development. There are now digital and mobile technologies which enable learning in and out of classrooms through mobile apps, websites, e-books, and games.
To make this more effective, first and foremost, old curriculum must be updated with a new and advanced one. The new curriculum must have coherence with industry requirements to ensure that those passing out are absorbed by them. How can technology help? Primarily, by increasing exposure and reach.
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Long-term development impact of mobile technology lies in education and learning for young people in developing countries like ours and also in connecting them to jobs. There is an increasing role for mobile technology in schools, but mobile learning also needs to play its role in reaching those who are outside the scope of traditional schooling, and will benefit immensely from access to various educational programmes. Likewise, mobile technology can also benefit the corporate segment wherein the employees can upgrade their learning through courses on mobile phone.
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Realising the potential of e-learning, several national and international organisations have initiated programmes in India. Undoubtedly, the most popular ones include spoken english courses which help students in rural and semi-urban areas with their verbal skills. Several vocational skilling courses are also being made available via e-learning courses. These have the advantage of inviting trainers from all parts of the country and even abroad to train candidates. Also, candidates can get visual exposure of the industry they may be training for and get insights and advice from experts in the industry. All this, without having to travel from one’s home or city!
E-learning and mobile learning is a positive movement that can open education and training up to young people who currently feel excluded. Several organisations like Viztar International has been prompt in realising these advantages and have designed training modules that will be available to the students on their mobile phones and tablets.
Scholars take a rights-based approach to tuberculosis epidemic in India
Researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a multidisciplinary public health initiative that aims to make human rights an important component in the control and prevention of tuberculosis. The initiative is focused on low- and middle-income populations in India, which is home to a quarter of the world’s tuberculosis cases.
The rights-based approach utilizes litigation, legislative and policy advocacy, and grassroots activism to improve prevention and treatment outcomes and protect the rights of people living with and vulnerable to tuberculosis. If successful, researchers who have planned a lecture series in Beijing and Hong Kong hope to disseminate their ideas beyond India.
Brian Citro, lecturer and acting associate director of the Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School, spearheaded the effort with Evan Lyon, assistant professor of medicine, and Kiran Raj Pandey, a physician and Health Services research fellow.
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Even though tuberculosis is a treatable illness, the World Health Organization estimates that it remains a worldwide leading cause of death arising from a single infectious agent. In 2013 alone, there were approximately nine million new cases of tuberculosis and 1.5 million related deaths.
Citro points out that the burden of the disease is disproportionately borne by low- and middle-income countries, which account for 95 percent of all deaths from tuberculosis globally. In recent years, drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis have occurred partially because there is no effective infection control and many patients cannot afford continued treatment.
“In India, this public health crisis is driven by social and economic factors and structural barriers,” said Lyon, who has worked on public health and clinical programs for tuberculosis and HIV for 15 years. As in other parts of the world, Lyon notes that individuals most vulnerable to tuberculosis infection in India are mostly poverty-stricken or persons living with HIV, drug users, prisoners and detainees. This population has no access to testing and treatment services, and lack awareness about the modes of transmission and prevention techniques. Besides social stigma and discrimination, poor sanitation and unhealthy living conditions have also exacerbated the situation.
“The end goal for our project is to change from the current biomedical-centered approach to a more rights-based one,” said Pandey, a Nepalese native who worked as a medical officer at a rural district hospital in Doti, Nepal from 2007 to 2009, managing a tuberculosis clinic and an anti-retroviral therapy HIV center.
Pandey said the project will focus on the legal obligations of governments to regulate and finance tuberculosis treatments and prevention programs through budget prioritization and equitable resource allocation.
Team forms ‘Sanmati’ to create awareness on mental health
Today, in India, there is an increasing awareness about physical health and the need to prevent illness. However, the situation is different when it comes to mental health issues. To promote awareness about mental health and also pay tribute to their teacher, a few leading psychiatrists in the city have got together to launch Sanmati —Dr V Ramachandran Medical and Mental Health Foundation.
“A small group of psychiatrists, all former students of Dr Ramachandran, decided to establish the Foundation, which will be inaugurated on March 28 at Narada Gana Sabha in memory of our teacher,” says psychiatrist Dr N Rangarajan. Dr Ramachandran was an excellent clinician, teacher and researcher. “He was the professor of psychiatry with the Institute of Mental Health and Madras Medical College, and deeply inspired us,” says psychiatrist Dr Suresh Kumar.
The aim of the Foundation is promotion of mental health. According to Dr Rangarajan, about 25% of the population will suffer from some kind of mental health problem at some point in their life. “However, there are only about 4,000 psychiatrists in the country, and a number of people don’t have access to care and treatment.” Dr Kumar says that many associate mental health issues with severe forms of mental illnesses, which are relatively smaller in proportion.
Initially, the Foundation intends to work with young adults. “We will be conducting programmes and workshops in schools and colleges,” says Dr Rangarajan, adding other target groups include doctors and HR professionals in corporates.
“Often mental health issues manifest as minor aches and pains or health problems and physicians need to be trained to spot such issues in their patients,” he says. “Since HR professionals work to improve working conditions in companies, they also need to be educated and sensitised. ”
The Foundation, which is a charitable organisation, also hopes to provide counselling, once they build the necessary infrastructure. “It is our effort, as psychiatrists, to give something back to society,” says Dr Rangarajan.
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