APPENDIX Z (a)- ORGANISATION OF APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING-TRAINING IN TELE-COMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING
The memorandum received from the Government of Madras on this subject is reproduced below. Regarding facilities for Tele--Communications Training in the All India Radio the appropriate Ministries have been consulted and the views of the Government of India will be furnished to the Board at the meeting
Memorandum by the Government of Madras.
" In these days when there is a dearth of technical men and the Government of India have appointed a Scientific Man-power Committee to survey the whole position, it will not be necessary to stress the need for the practical training of technical men. Although there is a clear necessity for a close and continuous co- operation and contact between institutions of technical training on the one hand and industry and trade on the other, yet past experience has proved again and again that except for a few enlightened managements, the majority of industrial and commercial firms are unwilling to take apprentices for training or promise but limited support to such a proposal. This is the considered opinion of the Technical and Industrial Education Committee appointted by the Government of Bengal who reported in 1945 that from the replies received to the questionnaires they sent it appeared that conditions had not changed much till then. Conditions may no doubt be expected to be different with the coming into existence of a Free India, but it is doubtful whether there has been a real change of heart in the matter from the point of view of commercial firms.
2. In this connection it should however be noted that even in England about 40 years ago industrial concerns were unwilling to take apprentices and charged heavy premia for taking them. But later on the value of apprenticeship as an asset to the country has come home to them and nowadays industrial concerns regularly take apprentices and pay them as much as 50 sh. per week for the work that the apprentices do when put in responsible charge.
3. Even in advanced America though in its own plants, such as Navy yards arsenals and engraving establishments the Federal Government bad been training apprentices for many years, it was only in 1937 that Congress decided by legislation that the training of all- round skilled workers is a matter of concern to all the people. Now the Apprentice Training Service of the Department of Labour arranges with the various commercial firms the training of apprentices for periods of a minimum of 4,000 hours (coresponding to 2 years) to a maximum of 8,000 hours (or 4 years) and the firms co-operate whole heartedly in this work. The apprentices trained in any particular firm are free to get employed in any other firm after the training though in most cases they get absorbed in the firm where they bad the training.
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4. The most remarkable fact that we have to face is that in India although Government departments, railway workshops and other public utilities, do take a limited number of apprentices, these apprentices have again and again complained that they are not put in responsible charge of the machinery. It is probable that the Officers directly in charge of such machinery are reluctant to put apprentice in sole charge of such especially when they feel that such apprentices, not being paid any stipend even, may not feel the responsibility which they themselves have got to face if anything goes wrong. Secondly, most of the commercial firms in India are very small in comparison with the firms in the West and they cannot afford to waste the productive time of the small number of their machines on students who, they believe have to be taught from the very beginning the need for minimising wastage of materials and the time of production and also for giving quality to the article produced by working to precision limits. That is why they consider in the words of the Bengal Report that " the sandwich system of training in which a batch of student are pushed in and taken out of factories from time to time for the purpose of giving, practical training has a great dislocating effect " on their production. If, however students have already boon trained in educational institutions in methods of commer- cial production, the training given in firms is continuous and each of the trainees work in the factory for a sufficiently long time, the managements of such firms can put in such trainees for them work of the leave reserve men whom they would otherwise have to engage.
5. In order that co-operation between business firms and educational institutions may be made greater, the Bengal Report has made a number of suggestions all of which will have to be put into practice.
6. The most important means of bringing about this desirable end is by legislation which is being increasingly taken up by the less advanced countries. One of the most important features of the legislation is the raising of a special tax in order to promote vocational education. In some of the countries this is what is being done A tax of 1 per cent is levied on wages and salaries paid in all industrial establishments which employ more than 5 wage-earning employees exclusive of the members of the family of the employer ; this tax together with other sums set aside annually for this purpose in the National Budget together with donations and requests from private individuals or private firms etc., and the proceeds of all fines imposed are all collected quarterly and put into an Apprentice Training Fund. The apprenticeship tax is payable likewise by Government workshops and factories and by workshops and factories belonging to autonomous institutions or under the jurisdiction of a local board or municipality. Rules are set forth in the legislation that if proper arrangements are made by a firm for maintaining apprentice training courses, a certain portion of the tax levied is remitted.
7. A special executive body looks after the administration of the apprentice courses to meet the needs for the various trades and drawn by special committee under the approval of the Ministry of Education. It arranges also for the grant so stipends to the trainees and bonuses and subsidies towards the maintenance of apprenticeship courses organised by industrial institutions. It also looks after general welfare of all the apprentices by having under it an employment Bureau and inspectorate which have definite powers under the legislation for doing all that is necessary to see that the apprentices are trained properly and their social welfare is looked after.
8. From the above it will be soon that it is necessary for Government Departments both Provincial and Central, first to set an example by giving stipends to every apprentice trained in their own workshops or factories or similar places. It is regrettable to find that oven after August the 15th, the Government of India regretted their inability to accept the proposal of the Provincial Government to give practical training facilities for the Electrical Communication Engineering students in the All India Radio-(vide letter from the Government of India).
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9. Secondly, if early industrialisation of the country is to become an accomplished fact, it would appear that the best way would be for the Government of India to deal with the question of legislation expeditiously. However, it may also be. considered whether the Provinces also should not be given discretion, to pass legislation so for as their sphere is concerned."