Technical Education in India

Technology is touching every aspect of life and society. Since Independence, the technical education system in our country has grown into a fairly large-sized system, offering opportunities for education and training in a wide variety of trades and disciplines at a certificate, diploma, degree, postgraduate degree and doctoral levels in institutions located throughout the country.

The general scenario of higher education in India is not equivalent with the global quality standards. Hence, there is enough justification for an increased assessment of quality of the country’s educational institutions.

In order to maintain the standard of technical education, The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was set up in 1945. AICTE is responsible for the planning, formulation and maintenance of norms and standards, quality assurance through accreditation, funding in priority areas, monitoring and evaluation, maintaining parity of certification and awards and ensuring coordinated and integrated development and management of technical education in the country.

Why is it important?
India is witnessing the age of science and technology. There is a huge demand of Technical Education in modern age. The pattern of life evolving in the age is very much different from the one we find in our society even some fifty years back.

General Education has been substituted by professional technical education in many cases. Technical Education offers good opportunity for employment and successful career.

Technical education contributes a major share to the overall education system and plays a vital role in the social and economic development of our nation. In India, technical education is imparted at various levels such as: craftsmanship, diploma, and degree, post-graduate and research in specialized fields, catering to various aspects of technological development and economic progress.

Besides, in this age of unemployment, only technical education can assure one of a job and a comfortable living. Those who are still in the conventional institutions, passing examination that have little relevance in the modern systems, find no opportunities of employment. And, quite naturally, they end up becoming the victims of frustration and find themselves alienated from the mainstream of modern world. With their stereo-typed general education without any specialization and professional skill they acquire nothing to contribute to the progress and prosperity of the human society. They are quite aware of this and this awareness leaves them demoralized.

It was not just an end, it was the dream of modern India, and technical education was given the due importance with a view to realizing that dream.

Prospects and Initiatives
India is renowned for producing graduates of the highest caliber, but only a very few compared with its population receive high quality technical education. India has over the years significantly bolstered the quality and availability of technical education, doubling the employment rate of graduates who are now better suited to the needs of Indian Industry.

So, there is a dire need of backing up conventional study and teaching technical education, as it will not only help in the development of the country, but also the person possessing those skills. Technical education is a part of education that is directly related to the gaining of information and skills needed in manufacturing and service industries.

For acquiring technical education, there are two structural streams in India – formal and informal. Polytechnics, Industrial Training Institutes, Industrial Training Centers, centrally sponsored scheme of Vocationalisation of Secondary Education by the Ministry of Human Resource Development are few of the formal sources of technical education in India. Whereas self-learning and small private institutes providing short term technical course are covered under informal one

New industrial and labour trends in India have clearly specified the need of technical education. But, the base of technical education must be made strong at secondary level of education and a clear-cut path for the students to move ahead in this field must be made. More technical degrees of high quality along with technical universities must be established.

Related Issues
Technical Education imparts knowledge of specific trade, craft or profession.

Technical education, that is, education in some art or craft is the crying need of the hour. We are living in the times when old concepts of education have undergone a change. We are not in need of liberal education, education that implies training in fine arts, humanities, cultural patterns and behavior, and aims at deve­loping a man’s personality as it was in the pre-independence days. We need skilled workers. Manufactured goods worth crores of rupees are being imported every year. There is dearth of food. Our industries are yet in infancy. We need engineers to man them. We need mechanized farming to increase the output of corn. All this is only possible if we give a technical turn to our education and if skilled labour is made available.