Aptitude and Achievement S. Chatterji and others (1972) studied the achievement levels of 52 class X and 33 class XI technical stream students of Calcutta in relation to their aptitudes and biographical factors. They found a high degree of correlation among the three variables.
Educational and Vocational Problems M.N. Mowji (1983) studied the vocational and educational problems of 1800 XI and XII standard arts, science and commerce students of Greater Bombay. Some of the problems reported by the researcher are: absence of guidance for choice of courses, lack of coordination between schools and colleges, paucity of trained teachers, uninteresting syllabi and books, defective admissions, large classes and inadequate facilities, dissatisfaction among teachers regarding low wages and heavy work-load.
Economics of Vocational and Technical Education Very few studies have been completed on the economics of vocational and technical education. One of these studies, by J.N. Singh (1965), examined the potential of workers' education schemes to create a climate healthy enough to boost industrial productivity. He observed that, though the schemes had such potential inherent in them, their implementation left much to be desired. Improper selection of teachers, theory-oriented teaching, and lack of motivation for workers for participation were some of the defects in implementation.
P.K. Bose and S.P. Mukherji (1978) carried out a techno-economic survey of the needs for local skills in four blocks of West Bengal so as to work out guidelines for the organization of the + 2 stage of vocational education. The study highlighted the need for diversified courses and general education content in technical and vocational education. From a similar study in another area of West Bengal, A.K.Gayen (1978) identified agriculture, industries, trade and commerce, health and public services as major areas for introducing vocational and technical courses at the +2 stage. In one of its studies in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, the work-experience and vocationalization Unit of the NCERT (1976) identified the following courses for vocationalization: dairying, sugarcane technology, animal husbandry, inland fisheries, cooperative farming, agricultural extension, food preservation and processing, veterinary services, small-scale industrial services, nursing and midwifery, pre-school education. Many of these courses were observed to have potential for creating self-employment.
S.P. Jain and L. Kurulkar (1980) made an assessment of on-going training programmes in relation to the vocational needs of women in Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh and Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. They discovered that, though the needs of women were highly diversified and fell into nine categories, the bulk of the on-going training programmes revolved round tailoring, embroidery and agriculture.
N.S. Davar (1977) examined the facilities available for commerce, business and management education in India with respect to their relevance for the needs of the Indian economy. The survey covered both formal and non-formal education programmes in universities, management institutions, professional organizations, etc. In addition, facilities for management training and their utilization in 109 small, medium and large, private and public sector organizations in Bombay were also examined. He concluded that, though rapid growth of industrialization in the country justified the proliferation of part-time, short-term and full-time diploma and degree programmes offered by a variety of agencies in management, they created a problem of accreditation.
Sociology of Vocational and Technical Education Education is the chief instrument of social mobility and social change. This is particularly true of vocational and technical education in the context of the modernizing and developing, but highly stratified Indian society. Studies in this direction are wanting.
O.P. Bhatnagar (1971) studied the role expectations, role performance and training needs of subject matter
RESEARCH IN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION-A TREND REPORT 1295
specialists (SMS) of the JNU and the State Departments of Agriculture. Seventy-four SMS, 100 supervisors and 145 village-level workers were covered in the study. Insufficient incentives and recognition, inadequate empirical research support, lack of facilities for transport and training, lack of motivation among farmers, etc. af- fected the role performance of subject specialists.
Sunderrajan (1977) studied the change in values, attitudes and career commitment of 564 boys and 203 girls exposed to courses at the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition. Appreciable changes were observed in the attitudes of students. Sex differences did not exist in such changes except with regard to 'empathy', in which the girls fared better.
Curriculum Studies Research in curriculum, by its very nature, requires an interdisciplinary perspective. Curricula in vocational and technical education should be examined in regard to their ability to reflect the following aspects; the specific objectives of programmes, the general aims of the sub-system of education in the context of goals of na- tional life, the vocational needs, interests and aspirations of children relevance to social life, compatibility with vocational maturity patterns, as well as variety, richness, flexibility, economy of execution. This requires, on the part of a researcher, a broad perspective from philosophy, psychology, sociology, economics, management, etc. Though a few studies relating to curricula of vocational and technical education have been completed, they do not appear to reflect any breadth of perspective.
With a view to providing insights for vocationalization of education at all levels, R.B. Devasthalee (1978) examined the secondary education (standards V to X) curriculum of Maharashtra state. He emphasised the need for vocationalization from standard V, establishment of central vocational schools to serve neighbourhood schools, and vocational guidance.
With a coverage of 242 parents, 520 pupils, 282 teachers and 120 heads of institutions, C.M. Lahi (1981) critically examined the work experience programme in secondary schools of Kerala. It was observed that the syllabus was not properly graded and relevant to social needs. The researcher's 'impressions' were that work experience activities led to favourable attitudes towards work and basic practical knowledge. Group work was commonly relied upon. M.L. Deshmukhya (1984) also examined the secondary school curriculum, but in Assam, in the light of needs for vocationalization. S.M. Pany (1981) studied the programmes of work education in 2013 secondary schools of Orissa state. It was found to respond to local economic needs. Negative attitudes of students, teachers and parents, inadequacy of facilities, pressure of other school subjects, lack of funds, raw materials, tools and equipment, were the problems faced in the organization of work education activities.
S.S. Panjawani (1973) attempted to devise a framework, concepts and methodology of job analysis in Indian Cable Co., Jamshedpur, so as to develop programmes of education and training of technicians. He suggested a diversification of conventional 'engineering fields into different technician specialities.
The commerce curriculum was examined by A. Ahmed (1983) and K.C.S. Jain (1977) at the higher secondary stage in Orissa state and at the undergraduate level (B.Com) of Rajasthan University respectively. A. Ahmed developed a model syllabus suggesting the basic concepts and skills to be developed. K.C.S. Jain studied the job performance of commerce graduates who studied this curriculum and non-commerce graduates, both groups of whom were working in banks.
The existing curriculum was observed to develop 11 of the expected 34 banking skills. He used this observation to explain the insignificant differences in the observed overall job performance of commerce and non-commerce graduates.
C.B. Shitole (1976) developed, through an experimental study, programmed learning material (PLM) for agricultural subjects in the Marathi medium for secondary schools. PLM consumed less time and proved superior to the traditional approach among both sexes.
Organisational and Administrative Issues One of the traditional concerns in education is the way school programmes are organized and administered. Problems and issues connected with the provision of work experiences in schools are classified under vocational aspects of education. One of the earliest studies in the area was made by D.S. Khanolkar (1960) who examined the organization of multi-purpose secondary schools. He had concluded that the imperfect adaptation of western models in organizing multi- purpose schools did not suit the social structure of India. A.S.R. Sindhe (1985) investigated problems associated with
1296 A.S. SEETHARAMU AND K. SUDHA RAO
the selection, planning and preparation of programmes of socially useful productive work (SUPW). Some of the problems discovered were: motivation of personnel, inadequacy of resources, high costs, absence of guidelines and know how, large class size, difficulties in integrating SUPW with school subjects, negative attitudes to SUPW, considering it as child labour and as affecting schools achievement, community apathy, absence of objective evaluation techniques and absence of weightage in promotion, etc. However, children's natural love for activities and group work, enthusiasm for social service, etc. acted as incentives for organization of programmes of SUPW.
C.K. Patel (1980) critically examined the organization of vocational education in the higher secondary schools of Gujarat state. The absence of clear guidelines, lack of orientation of teachers, the blind rush to the commerce stream, absence of diversification due to inadequacy of grants, were some of the findings of the study.
S.S. Munjal (1972) studied the problem of dropouts from pre- vocational training centres in Haryana. Twenty-five to 37 per cent of the pupils dropped out in the three institutions studied. Parental indifference. improper attitudes to labour, unsuitable curriculum and unattractive trades, poverty and social maladjustment among pupils, the employment of teaching staff on a temporary basis, etc. were found to be the causes of the dropout phenomenon.
B.G. Barki and R.N. Bhatt (1981) surveyed library use in 11 polytechnics and followed it with an action research project to study the impact of a better organization and utilization of library resources on student achievement. In contrast to the prevailing practices, the library method of teaching was found to be more effec- tive than the traditional method.
N.S. Potdar (1986) conducted a critical study of procedures followed for admission of candidates for nursing courses (B.Sc) in 17 colleges of nursing in India. The major finding of the study was that entrance examination marks and qualifying examination marks showed better predictive value than interview marks in regard to performance of students.
V.C. Kudesia (1986) demonstrated through an experimental study that the discussion method is superior to the lecture method in teaching technical English to first year students of polytechnics at Bhopal.
Non-formal education Only two studies have been reported which can be clasSified under non- formal vocational education. In an experimental study, K.Karunakaran (1980) attempted to identify the factors that need to be regulated to make effective a programme of non-formal education and training of farmers. Two groups each of trained and untrained farmers in Trivandrum district were chosen as experimental and control groups. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Lack of financial support as well as superstitious beliefs about timing of agricultural practices interfered with education and training programmes. As the level of education of subjects increased, superstitious and customs decreased.
Working in India, C.Thongplece (1985) studied non-formal vocational education programmes in Thailand. Administrators were trained graduates with a certificate in vocationalization. About fifty per cent of the instructors also had such certificates. Learners, most of whom were in the 15 to 35 age group and were women, undertook courses in agriculture, business, home economics and industry. Along with teachers and administrators, they also felt that the courses were relevant to their needs. It appears that everything went on well with vocationalization in Thailand, except that successful non-formal graduates remained unemployed.
Evaluation in Vocational and Technical Education It is not necessary to stress the value of evaluation studies in education. It is enough to say that, for boosting the efficiency and effectiveness of programmes, to apply mid-course refinements, to get feedbacks from an operating system as a technique of planning human resource development, the place of evaluation studies in vocational and technical education is quite distinct. It is quite popular also, as evidenced by the number of such studies reported. Usually, the scope of such studies and their implications are quite wide and the techniques employed are relatively simple. Sometimes the studies are 'successfully' conducted without any theoretical framework or methodological rigour.
The studies reported in this volume fall into the following groups:.1. Studies regarding regional imbalance in technical education. (There are 12 studies in this group completed by the Swami Ramanand Teerth Research Institute, Aurangabad, within a single but flexible framework of evaluation.) 2. Evaluations of vocationalization at the + 2 stage of education in different states/regions of the country (six studies). 3. Evaluation of work-education or vocationalization at the secondary school stage (four studies). 4. Studies in
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agricultural education (six). 5. Studies in junior technical and technical education (three). 6. Miscellaneous studies on workers' education, artisan training, craft education, health education, commerce education and typewriting training.
1. Studies on regional imbalances These studies share a common title element along with a mention of the specific type of education studied. The common element is 'A study of regional imbalances in vocational education and manpower planning in Marathwada'. The types of education covered are: technical education at the diploma and degree level, medical education, agriculture and allied education, veterinary and animal science education, food technology education, teacher education, legal education, commerce education, management education, vocational and craft training, job- oriented and restructured courses at degree level, and vocational courses at the + 2 level of education.
By and large, the studies have a common research framework with objectives which are also more or less common to all of them. By and large, they also follow a common methodology. The questionnaire is the main technique and tool of research used. This is either followed by interviews of the same sample or supplemented by interviews of related samples. Depending upon the demands of the study, document analysis is also undertaken of government documents or college records and, in a few cases, of both these types of documents.
D.S. Kulkarni (1985) observes that facilities for technical education in the Marathwada region got on par with such facilities in other parts of the state after the government of Maharashtra sanctioned the opening technical colleges without any aid from the government. However, the new instructions did not fulfil the neces- sary conditions for ensuring effective teaching in regard to staff and equipment. M.B.Gharpure (1985) observed, on the basis of several indicators, that there were regional imbalances in the provision of facilities for medical education for the Marathwada region as compared to the availability of such facilities in the Vidarbha and Western Maharashtra regions of the state.
N. L. Bhale (1985) concluded that the facilities available for agricultural education in the Marathwada region was indequate as compared to their provision in other regions of Maharashtra.
D.R. Paragaonkar (1985) discovered that the Marathwada region did not enjoy as much animal health cover and care and veterinary and animal husbandry education as other regions of the state did.
M.V. Joglekar and others (1985) concluded that Marathwada, was the most backward region in Maharashtra state in terms of food technology education. There was great demand for food technology graduates for positions of production supervisors and quality control officers in factories. Government also required them for extension service work, food inspection, supervision of warehouses and management of community canteens in family welfare programmes.
S.B. Gogate (1985) came out with several observations indicating that everything was wrong with teacher education in the region. Non- availability of good books in Marathi, which was the medium of instruction, lack of adequate cooperation from practising schools, lack of good library and laboratory facilities, poor quality of curricular activities due to lack resources, inadequate staff resulting in on excessive work-load for teachers, absence of library and laboratory assistants, inadequate space, non-availability of competent teachers in certain subjects like music and drawing, costly textbooks etc. were the variety of problems identified by the researcher that affected teacher education in the region. Marathwada lagged behind other regions of the state in regard to availability of trained teachers at the primary school level while it was on par with other regions at the secondary school level.
S. Wakade and P. Deshmukh (1985) observe that legal education was not seriously pursued in the region. It was organized either during morning or evening hours. People who were already employed or persons who had failed to gain admission to certain other professional courses joined the law courses. Hardly a few had the ultimate aim of Joining the legal profession or the judiciary. Low attendance was recorded in the law colleges. Library and other facilities were poor. None of the colleges was aided by the government.
L.J. Ahirwadkar and J. Desai (1985) observed that commerce education in the Marathwada region was beset with a number of problems. There were interdistrict imbalances in the provision of these facilities within the region. Products of the commerce courses fell short of the expectations of employers. Prospects for employment were quite bleak.
N.G. Bapat (1985) forecast a continuing imbalance in the near future in the supply and demand position of senior managers (those with an M.B.A. degree) in the state, on the basis of the ratio of managers to industrial