National Policy on ICT in School Education

Recommendations Given in Workshop on Use of ICT for Vocational Education and Training in School

Issues Related to VET

The following points were recommended for implementation in future by various stakeholders namely IGNOU, PSSCIVE, Bhopal, NIOS, Media Lab Asia & other NGO’s.

1. Research & Demand Assessment.
2. Skill up gradation programs will be offered in consultation with Respective Industries & professional associations.
3. Competency Based Curriculum development - Learning Material using ICT for -

a. Trainee Guide
b. Trainer Guide
c. Work Guide
d. Assessment Guide

4. Agencies like NIOS and PSSCIVE - NCERT, Bhopal should take care of school sectors and other through formal and non-formal modes, while vertical mobility should be ensured by VET agencies like IGNOU.

5. The following emerging areas need to be taken on priority basis for development of market-relevant syllabus.

i. Retail Management
ii. Handicrafts
iii. Health care
iv. Paramedical
v. Hi tech- Agriculture
vi. Horticulture
vii. Aviation Industry
viii. Construction & Automobile
ix. Agriculture with allied sectors
x. Tourism & Hotel Management
xi. SSI

6. To make VET socially acceptable its image value in society needs to be improved by development of appropriate media campaigns.

7. An International conference on VET, should be organized to get insights and inputs from other countries.

8. Training of teachers/trainers need to be taken up on a large scale. EDUSAT and other media can be used for the execution of these trainings. After the training and assessment, persons involved in VET should be certified by a National Certifying Agency.

9. Development of a directory/database of organizations involved in formal and non-formal VET.

10.e content should be developed for all vocational courses and this learning material should be translated in regional languages.

11.Public-Private Partnership should be encouraged to involve private sector industries and Non governmental agencies for VET. This would include joint training and joint certification wherever necessary.

Issues related to ICT

A major challenge that the ICT still faces today is how to bring into its ambit a majority of the school and college going population through cheaply available computers and peripherals. ICT can be utilized to reduce the disparities between rural and urban schools in the availability of information and thus promote equal access to knowledge and learning. Lack of adequate telecommunications infrastructure has been a major stumbling block for the spread of information technologies in India. Thus, a major challenge before us is to find ways and means for using IT for VET and aggressively expanding its coverage with quality and relevance. Provision of next generation Internet (NGI)/communication services, infrastructures and growth engines such as Wireless Broadband Service (WiBro), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), embedded Software Platforms, Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) and others have to be made to keep pace with the technological advancements in future and prepare skilled manpower on international standards, especially to provide global workforce mobililty. The challenge lies in ensuring that IT plays the strongest possible interventionist in empowering the role of VET.

Recommendations given by this group are divided into various heads:

A. Infrastructure Building/Access and Planning

A. 1 A National Plan for National, State and Institutional need to be in place to ensure successful implementation through VET. This plan should earmark budget for technology and infrastructure as well.

A. 2 ICT should now be considered as an important input for better VET planning, administration and monitoring.

A. 3 Computers and Internet should be made available in school offering vocational courses.

A. 4 Kiosks, which are one-stop non-stop service centres where a trainee could be guided in choosing a degree or career path, exploring occupations, learning about institutions, provide occupational dictionary, and domestic and overseas occupation information, should be promoted through private sector participation.

A. 5 Develop a system of demand driven examination, wherein a student can appear for the computer-aided test and obtain a certificate for the cognitive skills.

A. 6 Software for data capturing and processing, abstracting and indexing and data warehousing for supporting library services are available and should be made an in-built component of the library services for VET. Internet services should be utilized for providing information related to Journals and articles on various aspects dealing with VET, Science and Technology and Social Sciences.

B. Training of Trainers

B.1 Staff development activities should help teachers become comfortable and proficient in Information and Communication Technology, and should give them the opportunity to devise ways to use it in their classrooms.

B. 2 Programme for upgrading teachers and trainers on a regular basis on ICT related knowledge and skills, especially with reference to the vocational course, which they are teaching should be prepared at the National, State and Institutional level.

B.3 Training systems need to become more flexible and responsive to rapidly changing requirements.

B. 4 Develop in future teachers the ability to teach both the theoretical and the practical aspects of their field, with special emphasis on the need to use, whenever possible, the ICT.

C. Student Access and Training

C.1 There is a need to develop a framework not only to promote ICT through VET, but also to enhance access of VET to all the students such as use of mobile training units.

C. 2 The development of core work skills in ICT to prepare individuals for the knowledge skills-based society should be identified by the Industry.

C. 3 The Government should standardize the ICT skills for different vocational trades to develop national skill standards.

C. 4 ICT should be integral part of the competency-based curricula of all vocational courses and new ICT based courses for meeting the emerging skills demands and training should be introduced.

C. 5 A module on Digital literacy should be made a compulsory component for all vocational courses.

C. 6 Specific courses should be launched in association with the Software Industry and National Institutes of Information Technology (NIITs) to provide IT competencies.

C. 7 Teachers should involve students in developing projects that apply technology to design and development.

C. 8 ICT modules should include both soft skills and technical skills i.e., an appropriate blend of general subjects, science and technology, as well as subjects such as environment studies, citizenship, etc. with both the theoretical and practical aspects of the occupational field should be included.

C. 9 Programmes preparing for occupations in small industry, individual farming or the artisan trades, particularly for selfemployment, should include entrepreneurship and elementary information and communication technology studies to enable those engaged in such occupations to take responsibility for production, marketing, competent management and the rational organization of the enterprise.

C. 10 Programmes leading to occupations in the business, commercial and service sector, including the tourism and hospitality industries, should consist of training in the methods and skills developed as a result of the application of computer-based technology to business and office management, and particularly to the acquisition and processing of information.

C. 11 Contemporary educational technology, particularly the Internet, interactive multimedia materials, audiovisual aids and mass media, to enhance the reach, cost-effectiveness, quality and richness of programmes, especially in the promotion of self-learning should be promoted on a larger scale.

C. 12 There is a need to establish valid indicators for assessing the outcomes of ICT in VET, policies and practices.

D. Public-Private Partnership

D.1 Investment in Information Communication Technology through Vocational Education and Training is the responsibility of the Government, but has to be shared by Industry/Enterprises and social partners.

D. 2 Partners must be more closely be involved in implementation of training policy and development, if the desired reforms and increased investment are to become a reality in ICT.

E. Others/General

E. 1 ICT should be utilized to set up a Labour Market Information system using the models available or building a model suitable for the Indian conditions.

E. 2 A Vocational Management Information System (VMIS) should be established in the country.

E. 3 A National Industrial / Professional Council should be constituted to deal with ICT issues related to VET.

E. 4 A National Consortium for VET should be formed in order to coordinate among the diverse stakeholders. This should include agencies like DGET, IGNOU, NIOS, NCERT, Media Lab Asia.

E. 5 A National Level Statutory Body should be setup by the MHRD, Govt. of India to put in place a certification mechanism.