 RESEARCH IN VOCATIONAL AND
 TECHNICAL EDUCATION A TREND
 REPORT : A.S. SEETHARAMU, K.SUDHA
 RAO

Problems associated with the development and modernization of Indian economy and society present a bewildering spectacle and pose a challenge co educators. Class imbalances and regional disparities are integral to the prevailing profile. Associated with these problems are: mass illiteracy among the lower classes and caste groups, abundance of unskilled labour, acute shortage of middle-level skills, large and dispersed regions of underdevelopment, unbalanced growth of urban townships, shortage of employment for available skills as well as shortage of certain categories of skills for available employment, irrelevance of certain forms and levels of education to developmental needs, resulting in unsuitable outputs for the employment market, im- proper use and wastage of limited budget resources for education, etc. In brief, the national way of life has been highly unscientific. A redirection of the educational sub-system and its integration with other sub-systems of Indian economy are hence needed to provide some systematization and discipline so as to place the nation on the road to growth, equity and modernization. In this way it would be possible to honour and realize constitutional values and commitments. One of the efforts at systematization would be the provision of a well planned, efficiently executed, cost-effective and relevant programme of vocational and technical education.

When national development is defined in non-monetary and non- institutional terms, it is essentially a human resource development process. It implies the provision and augmentation of skills and capabilities of the people of the country. This is possible through a well designed and efficiently executed programme of vocational and technical education. It would not be out of place to briefly trace the history of interest in vocational and technical education in India. It has its origins in Wood's Despatch of 1854. Several education commissions and committees had stressed the need for diversified curricula. A chain of polytechnics was created following the recommendations in 1937 of the Abbot-Wood Advisory Committee. Committees have worked specifically on vocational education or techni- cal education. The report of the Education Commission headed by Dr. Kothari was the first systematic attempt to formulate a policy for progressive vocationatization of education in India. Though this report was accepted in 1968, vocationalization of higher secondary education, which is a crucial stage, was implemented only in 1977 by several states of the country. Even to this day, there are a few regions in the country which have yet to implement this policy. A few national level working groups and review committees have studied the problems and progress in implementation of the programme of vocationalization, among them being the Sabanayagam, Adisheshaiah and Kulandaiswamy committees. In addition, the Institute of Applied Manpower Research at New Delhi, and similar state level agencies. have studied and reported on the programmes and planning of technical education in the country. All these efforts have not been wholly successful in putting vocational and technical education on an even footing. A number of problems still persist in the field, some of which are conceptual in nature, requiring the attention of researchers interested in fundamental and theoretical

RESEARCH IN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION-A TREND REPORT 1287

issues, while others are embedded in micro-level planning and implementation of programmes, requiring the attention of researchers from a wide range of disciplines and interests to research themes which are empirical in nature.

ISSUES FOR POLICY AND PLANNING

The most significant and subtle issue in vocational and technical education concerns the nature and purpose of such education. The earliest exposition of this problem was by Plato who drew a distinction between the education of free men, who were to be prepared for a meaningful and productive life of leisure, and the education of slaves, who were to be prepared for a life of work, as toil and labour in manual occupations. The same distinction was stated in another form by John Locke in his exposition of his conception of the education of a gentleman. But the outlook began to change after the industrial revolution. It began to assume distinct direction through two parallel developments, one of them being the institution of 'Land Grant Colleges' in the United States, and the other, which was more pervasive and profound, the influence of Karl Marx and the translation of his political philosophy into action by Lenin through the October 1917 Revolution in Russia, wherein work and workers' education were raised on a high pedestal.

However, the basic questions all along have been: Should education be liberal or vocational in nature? If it is to be both, what should be the proportion of the mix between the two? Should the educational system turn out a worker with a minimum amount of general education or should it produce a 'person' through an adequate grounding of general knowledge, appreciation of and attitudes about the universe which help him to live as a liberated individual, along with the provision of a few manual skills? If skill development is the chief concern, is it desirable to prepare him for particular and specific vocational or technical skills, in contrast to his prepara- tion as generalist through polytechnic education? These problems have been solved to a large extent in East European countries, the USSR and other centrally planned social systems. But the problems have persisted in the developing parts of the world, including India. Though both vocational education and technical education are concerned with the production of middle-level non-technical and technical skills, still secondary and post-secondary, non-degree technical education is treated in India as part of 'technical education', governed by a separate directorate and guided by the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), with separate budget allocation and coverage in plan documents. On the other hand, vocational education and vocationalization of higher secondary education is a part of general education in the 10+2 pattern. This has often created prob- lems of mobility beyond the +2 stage. It is also not guided by National Council of Technical and Vocational Training (NCTVT) or the state councils. In other words, there is a lot of confusion in regard to the status of vocational education. At the moment, it is only one of a group of electives at the +2 stage of education or a subject in diversified curricula in some secondary schools. There is no integrated policy for vocational education and technical education in the country. Philosophical and historical researches in vocational and technical education along with comparative studies will be of value for policy making and planning.

ISSUES FOR MICRO-LEVEL PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION

The Department of Labour launched India's first national craftsman training scheme in 1941 the Wartime Technical Training Scheme. Problems of rehabilitation of trained craftsmen after the Second World War and their utilization for peace-time requirements prompted the creation of the Directorate General of Rehabilitation and Employment which started nationwide technical and vocational training schemes for ex-servicemen and displaced persons in 1945. These schemes were abandoned in 1950 and the existing centres for vocational instruction numbering 63 were renamed, Industrial Training Institutes. The department itself was renamed, Directorate General of Training and Employment, as rehabilitation was no longer a problem. It is under the Ministry of Labour and Employment and administers all technical and vocational training schemes through a Directorate of Training.

Vocationalization of higher secondary education as mentioned earlier was introduced in 1977. Establishing close links between education and employment, training persons for self-employment in agriculture, small industries and the service sector, diversifying educational courses, and training persons for middle-level jobs an- ticipated in industry and the service sector were some of the objectives of this programme. Weaning away a large chunk of post- secondary aspirants for higher education

1288 A.S. SEETHARAMU AND K.SUDHA RAO

from courses in general education was an implied objective.

Quite a number and variety of problems have been experienced in the implementation of programmes of vocational and technical education. Most of them are micro-level problems which deserve the attention of research-workers. A research base for decision-making is very much needed. Who are the persons that can benefit most from vocational education? How do factors like intelligence, parental background, social class, motivations, aptitudes, etc. operate in the success of the clientele in vocational courses? Do vocational or occupational aspirations determine performance in vocational and occupational spheres? How are such aspirations fashioned? Is there a relation between vocational aspirations, vocational maturity in early life and job satisfaction in later life? Does a person grow in vocational maturity over time? What is the age at which such maturity is reached, rendering the child ready for vocational education? What is the role of self-concept in vocational maturity and vocational aspirations? How does vocational guidance contribute to the development of vocational interests, vocational maturity and aspira- tions? What is the prevailing pattern of attitudes among parents, students, educators, employers and community leaders towards vocational education? How do such attitudes facilitate or impede the success of vocational education? How is achievement in co-curricular and curricular subjects related to vocational interests and aspirations? What are the vocational needs of children belonging to different age-groups? How does one measure all these variables? Can admission for vocational courses be based on some scientific admission testing programmes? How can occupational and income mobility be promoted among weaker sections through a well organized vocational programme? These are but some of a long list of questions which confront the teacher, administrators and heads of institutions offer- ing programmes of vocational education. Psychological and psycho- social researches in vocational and technical education would be of value for grassroots implementation of national policies.

It is will known that there is a scarcity of resources for education in general. This is even more true of vocational education in particular. Further, it is easier to organize courses in general education than in vocational education. Vocational education and technical education involve heavier capital costs for laboratory, workshop, equipment, etc. Expenditure on library will not be much as adequate books for vocational education are not available. Even maintenance costs for vocational and technical education are relatively high. It is also perhaps true that returns to students and the state from' vocational and technical education are also correspondingly higher than that for general education courses. In such a situation, where heavy costs are demanded, identification and utilization of community resources will be valuable. In fact, vocational courses need to be related to ecological structure, techno- economic resources, industrial and vocational needs of the region, so as to render relevance to such courses. Supply of vocational and technical skills in a region and the demand for them also merit consideration. Researchers interested in the economics of vocational and technical education should be able to contribute in these areas. Specific questions of value in this regard are: What are the private and social costs of vocational education and technical education? What are the unit costs in vocational and technical education? How do course-specific costs differ? What are the private and social returns from vocational and technical education? How do costs and returns in vocational and technical education compare with alternative forms of education? What is the extent of wastage in vocational and technical education? How do the external and internal labour markets and secon- dary labour markets respond to vocational and technical education ? How do segmented labour markets absorb vocational and technical skills? What is the waiting time for absorption of successful clientele? How does vocational or technical education fare in contrast to other variables like intelligence, defined as general ability, social class leading to reference for jobs, experience, sex, dynamics of the employment market such as labour queue, etc., in the absorption of successful graduates in the economy? What is the relative potential of courses for self-employment? How to project the need for skills in the economy across regions and over a period of time? How to integrate the patterns of vocational or technical education with industrial and non-industrial vocational needs and thus avoid the need for retraining? How to increase the cost-effectiveness of programmes of vocational technical education? What are the rela- tions between supply and demand for skills with the developmental level of regions? These questions are illustrative for researchers in the economics of vocational and technical education.

Perhaps due to imbalances in emphases between education for work as against education for leisure, one of the problems of an industrializing society is 'alienation'. Development of proper attitudes to work,

RESEARCH IN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION-A TREND REPORT 1289

life and society will assist one in coming to terms with this problem. It will also bear a relation with the role expectations and role performance of workers, resulting in varying levels of job satisfaction. Family life, interpersonal interactions, leadership styles, organizational climate of an institution, etc. have intervening influences in transforming the students passing out from vocational and technical institutions into both 'workers' and 'human beings'. Further, social change in the hierarchical structures of Indian society requires large scale upward social mobility of lower strata of society. This can come through occupational and income mobility. How far do the present vocational and technical education programmes promote mobility in various strata of society and contribute to social change? What are the value patterns of vocational students with special reference to work values? These types of issues would be of interest to sociological researchers. They would also throw light for curriculum planners.

As the programmes of vocationalization of higher secondary education and vocational education in high schools are still in their formative stages, they would profit from concurrent evaluations. Types of management, quality of student-flow, availability, adequacy, and utilization of facilities, organization and administrative styles, methods of evaluation of performance, nature and types of problems affecting programmes. teacher preparation programmes, problems of supply and demand for skills, availability of human resources, etc. are the variety of variables that merit the attention of researchers interested in evaluation of vocational and technical education. Surveys, concurrent as well as terminal evaluations, would be quite useful for planners, policy-makers and administrators.

Apart from the foregoing types of issues, there is also scope for curriculum studies which involve an examination of the existing curricula for various subjects from the points of view of on the job requirements, 'balance of knowledge' and non-formal approaches to the organization of programmes of vocational and technical education.

The issues discussed so far in relation to vocational and technical education can be classified under the framework outlined below.

FRAMEWORK FOR RESEARCH IN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION

Research issues in vocational and technical education that have been identified in the foregoing analysis under policy formulation, planning and implementation can be pursued by researchers from the angles of various disciplinary orientations in education. They may be fitted into the following framework: Philosophy of Education, History of Education, Comparative Education, Educational Psychology, Educational Sociology, Economics of Education/Education Planning/ Educational Management, Evaluation, and Minor Fields. This framework is also used for classifying the studies that have been completed over the years in the field of vocational. and technical education and are surveyed in the present trend report.

This trend report is based on 95 research abstracts. Some of them have already appeared in the first, second and third volumes of surveys of research in education under different classifications. For the first time they are here presented together under the headings, 'Vocational and Technical Education', along with abstracts of researchers in these fields completed after 1983, the terminal year of the third survey. It does not include several researchers in professional education which may figure under 'Higher Education'. It also does not include a few other researches that have been completed by institutions such as the IAMR and the TTTIs as abstracts were not available.

PROGRESS OF RESEARCH IN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION

Table 26.1 presents the decadal progress of research in vocational and technical education.

Table 26.1

RESEARCH IN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION (NO. OF STUDIES)

                                          
             1959 and before     1960-69    1970-79    1980-86
                                          
                     Nil            9          41         45

It may be observed that research in vocational and technical education were undertaken only from 1960 onwards. It gathered momentum after 1970 and stabilized after 1980. Further analysis of the growth of research reveals that 61 out of the 95 researches reported here were completed during the ten-year period, 1977 to 1986.

The abstracts reviewed here have been completed by

1290 A.S. SEETHARAMU AND K. SUDHA RAO

several agencies with 'universities' as the chief partner. The breakup of researches completed by agencies is as follows: Universities (53), Research Institutions (18), State Institutes of Education and Departments of State Governments (7), Technical Institutions such as IITs, and TTTIs (7), Agricultural Universities (3), NCERT (4), Planning Commission (1) and Colleges (2).

Table 26.2

AREA-WISE COMPLETION OF RESEARCH IN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION AS REPORTED IN THE FOUR SURVEYS OF RESEARCH IN EDUCATION