SECTION III SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION IN INDIA : PROF. W.D. KURZ, WEST GERMANY
SECTION III
Introduction As other foreign advisers, I was given the opportunity to visit institutes of technical education, industries, and other bodies to inform myself about the present conditions of technicians' education. During six weeks of travel I was in Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Madras and Hyderabad where I saw various kinds of institutions and industries and talked with representatives of Government, principals, staff members, students, former students, industrialists, and others who are concerned in the education of technicians. To all of them I wish to express my thanks for their friendly help, and especially to Prof. G.R. Damodaran for his careful guidance.
Contents
1. Education of Technicians Germany-India.
1.1. Job Description, Routes of Education.
1.2. Comparison.
2. Critique of Indian System.
3. Suggestions.
3.1. Structure of Polytechnics.
3.1.1 Rules common for all Polytechnics.
3.1.1.1. Duration of Courses including Industrial Practice.
3.1.1.2. Previous Education of Students (App.)
3.1.1.3. Procedure of Examinations.
3.1.1.4. Previous Education and Industrial Experience of Teachers (App.)
3.1.1.5. Procedure in Engaging Staff-Members (App.)
3.1.1.6. Teaching Obligation, Size of Classes (App.)
3.1.1.7. Salaries.
3.1.1.8. Qualifying Period, Ruler, of Transfer etc.
3.1.2. To be initiated by Institute, Approval of Ministry necessary.
3.1.2.1 Curricula, Establishment and Abolition of Courses (App.).
3.1.2.2. Placement of Industries Practice.
3.1.2.3. Engagement of Staff-Members (App.)
3.1.2.4. Purchase of Equipment, etc.
3.1.3. To be settled by Institutes autonomously.
3.1.3.1. Admission Criteria (App.).
3.1.3.2. Syllabi (App.).
3.1.3.3. Examinations.
3.1.3.4. Organisation of Labs & Utilisation of Equipment (App.) etc.
3.2. Faculty Development (App.).
3.3. Collaboration with industry.
3.4 Motivation.
3.5. Institutes in Rural Areas.
3.6. Role of TTTI's (App.).
3.7. Short-term-Long-term Measures.
1. Education of Technicians Germany-India
1.1. job-Description, Routes of Education
I take for granted that the reader is familiar with what in India is understood by the word technician. in Western Europe and in the United States the jobs of technicians do not include-in contrast to Indiathe duties of supervisors and foremen. The German routes of education leading to technicians in the Indian sense of the word, are shown in Chart I. It must be mentioned that in spite of the schematical similarity between the Indian route of education and the three left column of the German routes leading to "Ingenieur (graduiert) " the jobs obtained are mostly different. Only a small share of those, who become
86
87
"Ingenieur (graduiert)" get jobs as technicians. Most of them share the field of professional work with "Diploma-Ingenieuren" the Germanspecies of professional engineers.
1.2.Comparison
Levels: In Germany, there are three kinds of technicians (again on the basis of the Indian term):
"Meister" (supervisors) have the gretest practical (8.5. years) and the lowest theoretical (1 year )background.
"Techniker" have has practical (5.5 years) but more theoretical (1.5 years) background.
"Ing. (grad.)" have the highest theoretical (3 years) and the lowest practical (2-3.5 years) backgorund.
Degree of diversification : There might be about 60 different branches at each level in Germany. In India, the total might be 30. Thus the ratio of diversification is about 180: 30.
Placement of industrial practice : Industrial practice as a part of technician training occurs before theore-
88
tical schooling in all cases in Germany, and in India, in-between (sandwich) or after, or, due to present difficulties, not at all.
2. Critique of Indian System There is little to be added to what one can readily gather at present about the shortcomings deficiencies, and drawback of the present system. Therefore a brief description of the main aspects might do. Although the German system is far from being ideal it avoids to a great extent the weaknesses of the Indian system. Therefore a comparison of the, German and Indian systems is used here for demonstration. The comparison suggests that students in India have less motivation because they do not know beforehand where the road that they are taking will lead. They have less understanding, especially in practical subjects, because they only vaguely conceive what their teacher is talking about. They are too young (19) at the beginning of their professional career when they are expected to be supervisors and they have too little practical skill. These latter factors 'render them unsuitable to supervise skilled workers who are superior to them both in age and in skill. The teachers have very little or no practical experience. They have to teach according to a prescribed syllabus whether this syllabus makes sense or not in any particular situation. They have to prepare their student for external examinations and consequently the most successful teacher is the one who has the greatest experience with examination questions. They cannot collaborate with industry because industry hardly accepts them as partners. The inefficiency of teaching described above is partly due, to the present administratively structure of polytechnics.
Suggestions 3.1. Structure. of Polytechnics.
The structure suggested is in a large measure evident from the page "Contents" itself, the following paragraphs being the respective interpretations.
3.1.1.Rules Common for All Polytechnics
3.1.1.1. Duration of Courses including Industrial Practice.
The total duration of courses should be 4 years including one year of industrial practice. The placement of the latter should be adapted to local conditions (see 3.1.2.2.).
3.1.1.2. Previous Education of Students, (App.)
The previous education of students should last 12 years as far as minimum. conditions are concerned (see 3.1.3.1.). At a later date the conditions for admission should include one year of industrial appre- nticeship but only after the placement as suggested under 3.1.1.1 has come into vogue.
3.1.1.3. Procedure of Examinations.
There should be only internal examinations. Externally imposed Rules and Regulations should, be confined to procedure (pass criteria, timing, duration, observers admitted etc.). The questions, practical Problems, Projects etc. forming the examination
should depend on the syllabus actually taught (see 3.1.3.2.). The marks awarded should be composed of results of continuous evaluation and the final examination.
3.1.1.4. Previous Education and Industrial Experience of Teachers (App.)
Minimum: Bachelors degree plus three years of industrial experience of Diploma plus six years of industrial experience (see 3.1.2.3.).
3.1.1.5. Procedure for Engaging Staff Members (App.).
Every Institute should be entitled to select and employ a certain number of staff-members (teachers, administrative officials, librarian, physical director etc.). Applicants for first employment as teachers should be required to pass an oral-cum-lecture and colloquim test given by the teaching staff of the institute After engagement all teachers should be required to attend a course of pedagogical prepa- ration at the TTTI (see 3.6). Also in the case of promotions and appointments to higher posts the staff should have the right to nominate the candidate.
3.1.1.6. Teaching Obligations, Size of Classes (App.)
The number of class hours a teacher has to take per week should be low enough to allow for due preparation of instruction (about 20 units of 4550 minutes each). The size of classes should be limited so that careful evaluation is possible (about 35 students per class).
3.1.1.7. Salaries
Teachers' salaries should be high enough to attract experts from industry to teaching jobs (see 3.1.1.4).
3.1.1.8. Qualifying Period, Rules of Transfer.
Among other things the attraction of the teaching profession lies in security and independence. Therefore the period of probation should be limited to one year and transfers should be admissible only under certain conditions.
3.1.2. Actions to be initiated by Institutes, approval of Ministry necessary
3.1.2.1. Curricula, Establishment and Abolition of Courses (App.)
Changes of curricula should be allowed whenever there are sufficient and important reasons to change them. Moreover there are some courses for which the present demand is minimal (Civil Engineering in some places) while in some other courses the present uniformity in syllabus (by way of level or content or both) is not suitable for all places (too ambitious in rural areas, too little specialized in industrial areas). Recently some selected polytechnics have been given some autonomy to develop their curricula themselves. This is all right as far as these polytechnics are concerned, but they should not be made models for other polytechnics because institutes which are less favoured and less affluent and those
89
situated in smaller cities, with less industry around, cannot copy these models. These should develop their own curricula suitable to their own conditions. In most cases, a modification of syllabi will do (see 3.1.3.2). Establishment of new courses and mainte-3.1.3.2.). Establishment of new courses on the fulfilment of several criteria viz. Intake expected in the long run.
Jobs available in the long run.
Attitude and potential of industry to employ apprentices etc.
I have seen some excellent examples of curriculum planning in cooperation the industry on the basis of local conditions. Greater variety is not necessarily synonymous with greater specialisation which may lead to unemployment. Above all, it should mean variety in subject groupings and levels. Hence external examinations will be nearly impossible (see 3.1.3.3.). I believe, however, that the lack of administrative control implied in the abolition of external examinations will be compensated by the control which will be exercised by the success or failure of the institutions themselves. This will work to some degree by itself as soon as institutes suffering from small admission figures and unemployment of their turnouts are allowed to shrink and prospering ones allowed to grow. As far as the existing practice is concerned there is little use in controlling a so-called level as long as this level is not determined by industrial needs,
Regarding the present courses in Civil Engineering I learned that nearly all diploma holders apply for employment by government, whilst private industries have little need for civil engineering technicians. I believe that they would have demand if it is stipulated that the drawings presented for approval must fulfil the standards of technical drawings and that the erection of buildings must be supervised continuously by the private firms themselves. Of course, also in Civil Engineering a technician must have had industrial practice, which means that he must have worked on the building site himself.
3.1.2.2. Placement of Industrial Practice.
Indust practice can be placed before, in-between, and after theoretical studies.
Placement before has the following advantages:
A part of the in-plant training can be the same as given to those who are going to become skilled workers. It can replace training in manual skills at school. No close relation is necessary in this case between practice and theoretical schooling.
It can be combined with the pre-entry industrial practice suggested under 3.1.1.2.
Motivation and understanding during period of the theoretical studies will become better as a consequence.
Placement in-between (sandwich) might be ideal where collaboration between industry and polytechnic is so close that industrial practice can be adapted to the actual level of theoretical schooling. Where this is not possible we have a pseudo-sandwich before us, which, I feel, is not worth the effort.
Placement after allows a higher degree of specialisation than can be offered by the polytechnic. Vocational adjustment, however, is a duty which industry has to take over. Also here the programme of training must be harmonized with the foregoing theoretical course, and it should include project work.
The question which of these systems can be implemented effectively depends on local conditions and since all of them have advantages and disadvantages the choice should be left to the institutes instead of all institutes following a uniform arrangement. Migration of students between institutes will be complicated when varieties of this kind are permitted but as long as the migration rate is as today (about 1 per cent as I have heard) this should not be considered a problem.
3.1.2.3. Engagement of Staff-Members (App.)
If procedure has been described under 3.1.1.5. In comparison to the present practice a vacant post can be filled quicker under the proposed procedure and a new staff-member is more likely to have the appreciation of his colleagues. Moreover there will be a better chance to get experts suitable for the posts.
3.1.2.4. Purchase of Equipment.
If there are different courses and different syllabi (see 3.1.2.1. and 3.1.3.2.) the equipment can no longer be uniform. Henceforth it should be up to the heads of laboratories and their principal to determine their requirements and to apply for purchasing the necessary equipment.
3.1.3. To be settled by Institutes Autonomously.
3.1.3.1. Admission Criteria.
Today, if there are more applicants than places the choice is normally made automatically by the number of marks the students have obtained earlier. The quality of foregoing schooling might, however, be different' though the marks may be similar. Therefore the institutes should be allowed to determine their own criteria for admission which of course, must not interfere with the minimum standard prescribed (see 3.1.1.2). Preference should henceforth be given to applicants who have had earlier industrial practice. This could be a means of transition to, the final status recommended under
3.1.1.2. 3.1.3.2. Syllabi (App.) (see also 3.1.2.1).
The present syllabi, compulsory for all polytechnics, are unable to bring about equal levels at different institutes, even if this is desired. They cannot meet special demands on the one hand and on the other are likely to be overloaded and outdated. (The author of a syllabus to be used by different institutes cannot take the risk that something is missing). The teacher is forced by means of external
90
examinations to follow these syllabi and, even if he had time to spare he cannot introduce a new chapter because students would consider that a luxury. There is no objection if the syllabi are worked out by special bodies (as has been done in the past) as part of curriculum planning. They should, however serve only as guides. A teacher should be allowed to modify these syllabi whenever he thinks it useful for the purpose of modernisation or job adaptation. This is not possible until the examination system is changed.
3.1.3.3. Examinations.
All examinations should be internal. By this means the teacher is to a certain degree independent and only then can he teach his students how to work independently. There is less danger that examination questions are repeated because the questions can be related immediately to what has been taught or discussed before Which is likely to be a little different each year. Moreover there will be a wider range of examination methods. It will be possible now to do real design work and not merely drawing (design can never be. evaluated in external examinations). A teacher who is independent and responsible for his own teaching, is likely to be highly respected by his students and will contribute a great deal to their motivation. It will not however be possible to get such teachers except under certain conditions. Some suggestions in this regard are given under 3.1.2.3. and 3.2. Incidentally however, there will never be teachers like that until they are given opportunities to be so. I often heard that the teachers would not have the necessary integrity; but at present because of the limitations imposed by their own inadequate professional experience, uniform syllabi and external examination system they are neither called upon nor in a position to display any integrity.
3.1.3.4. Organisation of Labouratories and Utilisation of Equipment (App.).
Analogously to the framing of syllabi, the organisation of laboratories and the method of evaluation of laboratory work should be left to the head of a laboratory. Moreover there should be no restrictions regarding the use of equipment for industrial purposes (test, research, and fabrication of specials set-ups) as long as this does hot interfere with teaching (see 3.3).
3.2. Faculty Development (App.)
This para refers mainly to the present teaching staff. This is so because the percentage share of new teachers engaged under conditions described under 3.1.1.4. and 3.1.2.3. will not rise immediately but very slowly. There are recommendations how to get rid of "bad teachers" by inquisitory measures. But struggle for survival is, as I think, not a good basis for faculty improvement. My suggest- ions are: Engagement of new teachers under conditions as mentioned above including much higher salaries. The present teachers can obtain salaries of equal size after fulfilling certain conditions such as undergoing industrial practice during summer vacations, participation in pedagogical courses, Summer School Courses, Degree Courses, obtaining credits in curriculum development etc. All this should be the subject of a special scheme to define what is suitable for teaching different subjects and how far each is counted for salary increase. By this means the rest of the teachers, who do not make use of the opportunities, will be drained off automatically.
3.3. Collaboration with Industry.
Every polytechnic should establish an advisory council composed of the principal, members of the teaching staff and representatives of industry in order to discuss and to settle all questions of mutual interest, viz., placement of industrial practice in the curriculum, contents of industrial practice, and places for apprentices; (Since it is unlikely that industry will offer enough places, an amendment to the Apprentice Act might be necessary as proposed by Shri L. S. Chandrakant in "Polytechnic Education in India").
Curriculum development and adaptation of present curricula to industrial needs (participation of former ,students); Lectures and courses held by experts from industry or teachers of institute;
Industrial problems of research, development, and testing to be solved by teachers. (This is possible after they have had industrial experience);
Places for industrial practice during vacations for students and lecturers;
Visits to industrial firms;
Supply of printed matter (catalogue etc.) for students and teachers;
Grants of money and equipment. (machine tools, testing equipment, Computers etc.);
Scholarships for students and teachers.
This list may appear rather optimistic compared with the present reality, but collaboration will improve as soon as there are more teachers who have been experts in industry earlier.
3.4. Motivation
It might be useful if in the last years of preparatory schools the boys and girls get some instructions about India's tasks and problems of social and industrial development. Other sources of motivation are industrial work or training before theoretical studies and last but not least, teachers, who have a motivation themselves. However, the main source of motivation is the reputation a diploma holder enjoys and the salary be gets. The motivation of teachers has partly to do with the way they become teachers (see 3.1.1.4). As long as the period of industrial experience of three to six years is not merely an apprenticeship but a period of successful career, applicants for teaching positions will normally have an inclination for teaching.
91
3.5. Institutes in Rural Areas
There are many polytechnics in which the admissions went down to very low figures. For instance in Mysore State one third of the institutes have less than 30 per cent admissions compared to capacity On the other hand there are many institutes having admission figures between 90 per cent and 100 per cent of capacity. The first group belongs to rural areas; the second to urban areas.
That means that the low admission trends are not only brought about by the present economical situation. The main reason is the location of these institutes in areas where they have little basis to exist and there should be no compunction about closing down some of them. The majority of the rest should be required to thoroughly modify and reorient their courses in keeping with local needs. (The staffmembers have plenty of time for curriculum research at present when admissions are so low). At any rate there will be a great capacity to spare both in facilities and in staff. Partly this could be used to establish new courses in the field of agriculture. The levels and contents of these courses will have to be very different in different locations. There are areas where the degree of mechanisation is so low that a start can only be made by some Peace Corps approach in order to create a demand of skilled labour and machinery in the future. In some areas there is a certain demand for distribution commissioning and maintenance of small size machinery like power tillers and pump sets and there are also other areas where there is a demand for distribution and maintenance of heavy equipment such as tractors and accessories.
A curriculum cannot always be planned after existing manpower demands (in area where there is no technical manpower demand). In such cases it will be necessary to establish at first a programme for agricultural development and mechanisation. It should be up to the local authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture to develop curricula according to local needs. In most cases the diploma level will be too high and instead the ITI level might be more suitable. Analogously, courses for Fishery could be established. A programme of this kind might help to prevent a part of the rural intelligentsia from emigrating to the big cities.
3.6. Role of TTTI's (App.)
The present programme of TTTI's is surely useful (upgrading courses,teaching pedagogy, development of educational aids) but it might be many decades until all teachers have attended these courses. The TTTI's should withdraw from upgrading courses and leave this field to the IIT's and industry. Instead they should concentrate upon the latter items. In addition pedagogy should include instruction about how to plan, conduct and evaluate examinations (see 3.1.3.3). New teachers should attend a rather short course (about a quarter of a year) to get familiar with basic ideas (see 3.1.1.5). Those who are already teaching may choose between attendance at the same course of participation in an equivalent correspondence course'(see 3.2). By no means should performance at this course play a dominant role in the appointment of new teachers. A teacher who is competent in his technical or scientific fields, that is someone who knows what to teach, is normally able to find a way how to teach. And generally he will be more successful by teaching in his own style than by adopting some so-called scientific method. Within the frame of autonomy as described earlier a centre for clearing and exchange of curricula and syllabi will be necessary. Perhaps the TTI's can take over this task.
3.7. Short-Term Long-Term Measures
The reorganisation could be started after a short period of preparation if responsibilities and powers are delegated successively to a lower level as described above. "Successively" refers to both sequence of measures and sequence of institutes. The introduction of industrial apprenticeship after the issuance of an amendment to the Apprentice Act is likely to take the longest period of time and should mark the end of the transition period. Institutes which, after a due period after the issuance of the act, do not succeed in getting the necessary training places for their students, may not have the necessary basis for existence. There are, of course, some aspects such as faculty development and collaboration with industry to the full extent where no limitation can be set on the transition period.
The success of a reorganisation, as outlined above, will depend not only on the enunciation of policy, delegation of powers and autonomy, and enactment of legislation but also on understanding, acceptance, interpretation, and implementation of the spirit behind the proposals. The principals hold the key positions and success can only be achieved if they are convinced by and are enthusiastic about the plan for reorganisation, and are ready to ensure that the delegated authority and autonomy are exercised.
Acknowledgment
For friendly help in the drafting and preparation of the text of this report I would like to thank Mr. sation, and are ready to ensure that the delegated S. Soundararajan and P. S. Vaidyanathan (Coimba- tore).
APPENDIX 3.1.1.2
Previous Education of Students
The following reasons favour the extension of the preceding school course to 12 years:
1. Complaints by almost all people concerned with technical education about the shortcomings of the present school education.
2. Too low an age presently at the start of the professional career (19 years now).
3. A comparison with technician education in other countries.
92
A comparison with the technician training in the U.S.A. and the countries of Western Europe* shows a school education period between 9 to 13 years in those countries against the 11 years prevalent in India at the moment which would seem to be a good median value. However, if one considers the special situation of present day India, this 11 years period does not appear to be sufficient. In order to illustrate this point a comparison should be made between "Techniker" and "Ing. (grad.)" (See 1.1.) on the one hand and the Indian Technician on the other. Indeed, the previous schooling of the "Techniker" is 9 years (it is proposed to raise this to 10 years), but it should be remembered that most of the people who attend the "Techniker" course are already specialists in the same field in which they are seeking education. This is not valid for the Technicians in India, since, for various reasons, education here cannot be so specialised. In addition there is hardly any problem of communication in Germany Even if the ability of "Techniker" to express themselves in their mother tongue is not high, it is acceptable through the narrowness of their fields of specialisation.
In India the lesser degree of specialisation brings, with it the need for a larger technical vocabulary for the technician. This apart, there is the further demand that he should have a good command of atleast two languages: English, in order to understand his superiors and to be able to read technical literature and Regional languages (Hindi, Tamil etc.) in order to make himself understandable to his subordinates. It can happen very often that the technician's mother tongue is not one of the main Indian languages, and as a result both the languages mentioned above become "foreign languages" for him, One should further take into account that the number of school years are to be valued by different standards, depending upon whether schooling starts at the age of 5, 6 or 7. Schooling at the age of 5 serves more to get the child acclimatised to the school rather than to acquire knowledge. In all the countries of Western Europe and in the U.S.A. schooling begins with the age of 6 or 7 years.
The only exception is the U.K. where it is 5 years. While making this comparison one should moreover keep in mind that in the above mentioned countries a major proportion of the children grow up in technically more developed surroundings, which contribute towards acclimatisation to industry and towards better grasp of technical contents at the school. On the above considerations and on the basis of 9 years of schooling for the German "Techniker" (which even there is a poor minimum) the requirements of previous schooling in the case of Indian students could be worked out as below:
Previous schooling as in the case of German "Techniker" ... 9 years
Add for:
(i) The earlier start of schooling ... 0.5 years
(ii) One or two "Foreign languages" ... 1.5 years
(iii) Influence of environments ... 0.5 years
(iv) Degree of specialisation ... 0.5 years
TOTAL 12 years
For " Ing.(grad.)"the considerations are similar:
Previous schooling ... 10 years
Add for:
The earlier start of schooling .. 0.5 years
One or two "foreign languages" .. 1.5 years
Influence of environments .. 0.5 years
TOTAL .. 12.5 years
It should be understood that such a "calculation" is only a frame-work for thinking. Since, however. the allowances made above tend to the lower limit, the result of 12 years of schooling arrived at is likely to represent more a minimum rather than the ideal. To allow for a still longer period does not seem realistic at present.
The age of the "Technician" would amount to 5+12+4=21 years if the suggestions made in this report are accepted.
Adding one more year for industrial practice prior to entry into the Polytechnics (See 3.1.1.2) the age amounts to 5+12+1+4=22 years.
APPENDIX 3.1.1.4
Previous Education and Industrial Experience of Teachers
The qualifications necessary for the teaching staff should not be centrally and generally fixed except for the specification of the necessary minimum requirements. The necessary qualifications should be related to the main subject which the teacher is expected to teach.
In the basic science subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics etc.) a necessary condition is the scientific ability of the teacher. These subjects are not industrial application oriented, but prepare the student for subjects which are oriented towards such application. However, it is to be expected of the teachers of these basic science subjects that they have an idea of what is finally expected of the technician when he goes out of the Institution. It would be certainly easier for the teacher to have this background, if he himself has had experience of practical nature. This will enable him. to know, at least in his field, how great the gap between the scientific activity within the walls of the