NEW DELHI: The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) has called for "re-branding" vocational education, as "negative association with manual labour" is one of the main reasons for reluctance among people to opt for the vocational stream.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, NKC Chairman Sam Pitroda has said "highest priority" should be given to re-branding vocational education and training (VET).

"The quality, as well as the image of the VET, needs to be actively promoted for it to be viewed as comparable and as relevant as general secondary education," he said.

Also, the NKC is of the view that vocational education should come totally under the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry.

As of now, VET comes under the purview of both HRD and Labour Ministries. This, according to the NKC, led to fragmented management of the VET framework.

Regulatory agency

To change the attitude towards VET, the NKC has suggested that a robust regulatory and accreditation framework be put in place 0to regulate entry of new institutions and accredit all institutions.

Favouring an independent regulatory agency for VET, the commission has suggested that this entity be given the power to licence accreditation agencies and prescribe standards for certification.

Besides the macro-level changes, the NKC has recommended modifications in the framework of VET.

To increase the flexibility of VET within the mainstream education system, the Commission has said certain aspects of general education should be retained as far as possible to enable students to return to the mainstream at any time.

Also, courses in training institutes and polytechnics should have distinct tracks for students of different educational attainments, and links should be established between the vocational education system and school and higher education.

Calling for increased public and private investments in VET, the NKC has said that given the demand for skilled manpower in manufacturing and services, the Government should aim at spending at least 10-15 per cent of its total public expenditure on education on vocational education.

The NKC has also outlined several delivery models to increase the vocational training capacity.

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