Proposal
for Computerized Vocational Training
March
2002
1.
Need
for vocational training
The speed of a nation’s development is directly related to
the quantity and quality of vocational skills possessed by its workforce. The
wider the range and higher the quality of vocational skills, the faster the
growth and more prosperous the society.
In the coming decade, an additional eight million
young people will enter India’s labour force every year in search of
employment. Currently only 5% of the
country’s labour force in the 20-24 age category have formal vocational
training, compared with 28% in Mexico, 60 to 80% in most industrialized
nations, and as much as 96% in Korea.
The availability of employable skills is one of the
major determinants of how readily new job seekers find employment. The very low
level of employable skills makes the search for work much more difficult. It
reduces the market value of the job seeker and adds to the costs of employers
that must train new recruits from scratch.
India has
over 4200 industrial training institutes imparting education and training 43 engineering and 24 non-engineering trades. Of these, 1654 are government
run ITIs (State governments) while 2620 are private. The total seating capacity
in these ITIs is 6.28 lakh. Most of this training is conducted in classroom
style in the form of 1 to 2 year diploma courses.
In
addition, about 1.65 lakh persons undergo apprenticeship vocational training
every year in state-run enterprises. If a wider definition of applied courses
is taken that includes agricultural, engineering and other professional
subjects, the total number receiving job related training is about 17 lakh per
annum, which still represents only 14% of new entrants to the workforce.
The
limitations in the existing approach to vocational training have been
highlighted in the Planning Commission Report of the Task Force on Employment
Opportunities (2001). They include outdated courses for which there is little
demand, shortage of suitably trained faculty, inadequate infrastructure, and
unreliable testing.
There is a great unmet need for shorter vocational
training programmes that job seekers can take on their own time and at their
own pace and at relatively low cost. In addition there is also need for
a wide range of vocational courses for those who are already employed but seek
to broaden or upgrade their skills to keep pace with changing needs and to
further their career opportunities.
The lack
of vocational training applies at all levels, from basic mechanical skills
needed for operating and repairing equipment to jobs in sales, administration
and management, including specialized occupations such as bookkeepers,
insurance agents, pharmaceutical marketing, travel agents, food service
managers, journalism, etc. It applies
also to a wide range of value-added skills for enhancing the performance of
workers in different occupations, such as safe driving, industrial safety,
quality control, pollution control, water conservation, rainwater harvesting,
energy conservation, customer service, etc.
The overall importance of upgrading vocational skills
in India is highlighted by the following statement of the Task Force on
Employment Opportunities:
“To
summarise, the
rate of growth of economy cannot be accelerated, in particular in the labour
intensive sectors, if there is a general lack of skills among the work force.
The example of software industry is sufficient to illustrate what can be done
by the Indian youth if the right training facilities are afforded by the
society. This requires strengthening
of the existing training system. The role of public sector has to be
restructured and conditions created for inflow of funds at a much larger scale
than at present. Role of private sector has to be expanded sharply if the
requisite resources are to be brought in to bridge the large capacity gaps that
exist. The vocational training policy has to respond to this challenge.”
This proposal is intended to meet the need for short,
low cost and easily accessible vocational training courses. The aim is to
establish computerized vocational training programmes that can benefit
10,000,000 students per year, 6 times the number that currently benefit under
all existing training schemes.
2.
Computer
as a learning tool
The
importance of computer has been widely recognized as a means to improve
efficiency in business, government and formal education, but its application in
vocational training is not fully appreciated. Rates of learning on computer are
four to ten times faster than they are in classroom setting and learning
retention is likely to be much higher. This is true for both academic as well
as vocational or skill-based subjects.
Computers offer several advantages
for rapid and effective learning. In computerized learning,
a.
Multimedia
– Computerized courses combine written, spoken, graphic,
animated and motion picture imagery to communicate concepts and illustrate
applications that cannot be done in a classroom setting.
b.
Interactive
– Students can interact with the training program at every moment to
obtain more information, qualify their understanding and test their knowledge.
c.
Immediate
Feedback – Computerized training has the additional advantage that it
can provide immediate feedback to each student at every step of the learning
process, which live classroom teaching cannot do.
d.
Paced
Learning– Students proceed at their own pace according to their own
capacity, so it is never too fast for comprehension or too slow to hold their
interest.
For many types of vocational
skills, computerized training also offers specific advantages over the live
delivery of skills in a classroom.
e.
Eliminates
need for teacher training – Computerized courses ensure that
the highest quality of knowledge and presentation are available equally to all
students, whereas teaching standards in existing vocational institutions vary
enormously.
f.
Response
to changing skill needs – Computerized courses can be rapidly modified or
replaced in response to changing needs in the employment market, whereas
classroom courses are difficult to change, since it involves changing of
textbooks and retraining of instructors, so they tend to remain the same for
many years.
g.
Uniform
testing – Computerized courses also make possible uniform testing and
evaluation by the computer software itself purely on objective criteria.
While is
some instances, computerized training will need to be supplemented with
hands-on training or apprenticeship experience, the need will actually be far
less than expected. Computerized simulation has been proven an effective
training tool even for learning complex vocational skills such as flying an
aircraft or handling sophisticated military equipment.
3.
Objectives
The objective of this proposal is
to establish a state-wide network of computerized vocational training centers
covering every village in the country and offering training courses on a wide
range of occupational skills.
a.
Establish
50,000 training institutes in the country.
§
Establish
40,000 training centres as privately owned businesses.
§
Establish
10,000 training centres in engineering colleges, arts colleges, ITIs and high
schools that have spare computer lab capacity available for morning or evening
use.
b.
Provide
vocational training to a minimum of 10,000,000
students per annum.
c.
Generate
self-employment for 40,000 entrepreneurs.
d.
Generate
employment in the training institutes for an additional 80,000 shop training
assistants.
4.
Types
of Training Centres
a.
Computerized
vocational courses can be offered through:
b.
Liberal Arts and Engineering
Colleges – Using
the existing computer facilities available at arts, science and commerce
colleges, vocational training courses can be offered both to students and the
general public.
c.
Industrial Training
Institutes & Polytechnics – Using the existing computer facilities available at
polytechnics and other training institutions, vocational training courses can
be offered both to students and the general public.
d.
Private Training Institutes
– The
Government should promote the establishment of thousands of private training
institutes (“job shops”) to make vocational training available in every locale,
on a parallel to the STD booth.
e.
High Schools – Public and private high
schools equipped with computers can also be included in the network of training
institutes.
5.
“Job
Shops”
a.
The
concept is that private individuals will establish the training centres or “Job
Shops” in both urban and rural areas under a self-employment scheme.
b.
Each
centre will provide training on a range of occupational skills.
c.
Training
material will be offered in a CD-Rom format, so that no internet connection is
required. This will improve accessibility, reduce the cost and eliminate
connectivity problems. (Supplementary internet based training may also be
offered where feasible.)
d.
Each
centre will consist of one to ten computer terminals and a library of training
CDs.
e.
Customers
will be able to rent the computer time and CDs on an hourly or course basis.
For example, if a course on sales training requires 50 hours to complete, the
customer will pay a total fee for the course and be entitled to 50 hours of
computer use for completing the course (e.g. within a period of three to six
months time.)
6.
Training
Course Material
a.
Each
centre will maintain a library of popular training courses from which clients
may select the topics of their interest. A sample list of topics is appended to
indicate the range of skills that can be offered.
b.
The
availability of computerized training material for a large number of vocational
skills is critical to the success of the project. Some of the training material
can be drawn from the large number of educational CDs already created in India
and overseas (e.g. bookkeeping, sales training, etc.).
c.
But
a large number of new training programmes will have to be created by
collaboration between the Government and companies with expertise in the design
and development of computerized training courses, such as NIIT, Aptech,
Pentasoft and others. These firms will be interested to produce the course
material, if they are assured of a large market for the courses.
d.
Wherever
feasible, course will be certified by a recognized institution to signify that
they are of acceptable quality.
7.
Role
of the Government
The role of the Government should
include the following:
a.
Arrange
for delivery of vocational training courses through all state-owned and managed
engineering colleges, ITIs, Polytechnics, liberal arts colleges, high schools
and related training institutions that are already equipped with computerized
training equipment.
b.
Provide
financial assistance and incentives under one of the Central Government
self-employment schemes to promote establishment of 40,000 private training
institutes as a self-employment programme for entrepreneurs.
c.
Approach
financial institutions such as IDBI and the nationalized banks to provide loans
to entrepreneurs for establishment of private training institutes.
d.
Negotiate
with computer software companies for the design and production of a wide range
of vocational training courses. Each course can be developed in conjunction
with a recognized institutional authority that will certify the contents of the
course.
e.
Negotiate
for bulk purchase of approved training software on behalf of private training
institutes in order to minimize the cost of training.
f.
Provide
training to entrepreneurs on how to set up and manage a private institute,
including training on marketing and pricing of courses.
g.
Provide
scholarships to very low income youth to offset a portion (from 25 to 75%
depending on income group) of the cost of training.
h.
Eliminate
all taxes and duties on computer parts and equipment in order to bring down the
price of PCs to a level affordable by much larger numbers of people.
i.
Institute
a cash award for anyone who invents a low cost computer that will significantly
reduce the cost of the PC.
8.
Economics
of a Job Shop
a.
Assumptions
§ Three computers per Job Shop
consists of three computers
§ 20 vocational training
programmes per Job Shop
§ Each computer is utilized
for an average of 300 hours per month or 3600 per year.
§ Operating expenses for rent,
two paid employees, phone, electricity may range from Rs 15,000 to 20,000 per
month
b.
Total
Investment and Cost of Operations based on these assumptions
§ Total capital investment may
be around Rs 1.5 lakh.
§ Cost of operations per
computer hour = Rs 17 to 23 per hour.
§ Cost of amortising of
computers and software over two years = Rs 14 per hour
§ Average cost of training =
Rs 30 to 40 per hour
§ Net profit = Rs 10 per hour
or Rs 1,00,000 per annum
§ Average retail price of
training = Rs 40 to 50 per hour
c.
Based
on these assumptions, 50 hours of computerized vocational training, which is
equivalent to about 250 hours of classroom training, would cost the student
only Rs 2500.
9.
Financial
Requirements of the Programme
a.
The
Government can utilize existing computer infrastructure in educational and training
institutions to set up the network of institutes. It need not invest in
hardware.
b.
To
the extent that public institutions will be part of the network, the Government
will have to invest in purchase of training software. Assuming that 25,000
public institutions participate in the programme and that each centre requires
Rs 2 lakh of educational software, the total cost would be Rs 500 crores.
c.
There
will be no direct investment by the Government in private training centres, but
the Government may offer incentives to encourage establishment of these
businesses.
d.
The
Government can also provide scholarships to encourage poorer persons to take
the vocational courses.
Partial
List of Proposed sCourses for Computerized Vocational Training
Commercial
1. Book-keeper *
2. Shop clerk
3. Store manager
4. Sales training *
5. Sales manager
6. Telemarketing phone skills
7. Customer service phone
skills
8. Advertising agent
9. Marketing manager
10.
Receptionist
11.
Purchasing
& Store Keeping
Education
12. Teacher presentation &
communication skills
13. Teaching assistant
14. School manager/administrator
15. Library & information
management
Tourism
16. Travel agent
17. Food service manager
18. Hotel manager
19. Housekeeping supervisor
20. Laundry supervisor
21. Dry cleaning operator/
supervisor
Media
22. Reporter – print &
electronic
23. Subeditor – print &
electronic
24. Image processing (scanning)
25. Still & motion
photography
26. Photographic processing
& touch-up
27. Video editing
28. Film making
Language &
Computer
29.
Computer
operator
30. Internet researcher
31. Secretary/Stenographer
32. English pronunciation *
33. Spelling & grammar *
Agriculture
34. Farm managers
35. Water management
36. Soil lab technician
37. Crop management – each major
field, cash & plantation crop
38. Pest control
39. Composting
40. Pump maintenance &
repair
41. Tractor maintenance &
repair
42. Organic farming
Environment
43. Rainwater harvesting
44. Pollution control
45. Water conservation
46. Bio-gas production
47. Bio-mass energy
Health
48. Health Worker
49. Child Care & Nutrition
50. Nutritionist/dietician
51. Pharmaceutical medical
representatives
52. Pharmacists
53. Dental assistant
54. Medical secretary/assistant
55. Med lab assistant
Legal &
Financial
56. Insurance agent
57. Law clerk/secretary
58. Accountant
Industrial
59. Quality manager
60. Safety manager
61. Environmental manager
Transport
62. Traffic rules for drivers
63. Traffic policing skills
64. Safe driving for car, lorry
& bus drivers
65. Car, bus & lorry mechanics
66. 2 & 3 wheeler mechanic
67. Bicycle mechanic
Technical
68. Electrical maintenance &
repair
69. AC maintenance & repair
70. Xerox maintenance &
repair
71. Electrical appliance repair
72. Home appliance repair
73. Computer repair
Design
74. Graphic design
75. Interior design
76. Landscape design
77. Textile design
78. Furniture design
79. Florist & floral design