Project Summary:

About 90% per cent of employment opportunities require

vocational skills. Only 20% of our graduates get employed. The
rest are unable to get suitable employment due to lack of
employable skills- Nayana Mallapurkar, Program Head, TISS
school of Vocational Education.

Vocational training is training provided for a specific career or

trade, excluding the professions. It mainly focuses on practical
applications of skills learned, and is generally not concerned
with theory or traditional academic skills. A major part of
education in vocational schools is hands-on training. It thus
connects education and the working world. It is usually
provided either at the postsecondary trade school or in a high
school level.

Since vocational training often begins in high school, students

taking up VT can be prepared to take a high-paying, skilled job
immediately after graduation. The Graduates of vocational
schools have an edge over informally trained job-seekers
because they receive certification from an independent
organization regarding the skills needed to successfully perform
a specific, skilled occupation.

According to the National Skill Development

Corporation (NSDC), which is a public-private partnership that
funds and directs private skilling programmes, approximately
12.8 million people will be joining the job market every year in
the coming decade.

Despite the mounting urgency, progress towards the

government's target is glacial. There is a lack of coordination
between the 17 ministries who offer a multiplicity of
programmes and skill development organisations. Conflicting
agendas threaten to undermine the goal.
For instance, the human resources development ministry, has
started implementing its vocational education agenda through
the National Vocational Qualification Education Framework, and
the ministry of labour and rural development, has proposed a
National Vocational Qualification Framework.

So instead of opting for higher education, a person who is

interested in a particular profession can go ahead and pursue
vocational training for the job he is interested in.
Through our project we are trying to understand if and how
vocational training is going to be beneficial for a large student
population and how it will help in contributing to a better GDP
of the country.

For this we have conducted a survey among the students as

well as professionals and have shared our analysis and findings
in the project report. Most of the people have agreed that
vocational training gives an edge compared to higher
education.

We have also proposed a career plan for the students who

intend to pursue vocational training instead of higher
education.

All the details regarding the processes mentioned above have

been detailed out in the below sections: