“I don’t consider vocational education different from education. In fact, it has to be well blended within our school systems like it is there in many countries.” This was the key message delivered by Gaurav Kapoor, Senior Head – Industry Partnership, CSR Engagements, Media & Advocacy, NSDC, at an Education Technology Summit in New Delhi.
Gaurav explained how countries such as Sweden, Finland, Norway and Germany have blended vocational training in their mainstream education systems, giving children as young as sixth grade exposure to vocational education as an alternate career path. Germany especially, offers a dual learning system where students become apprentices with companies and also pursue their higher education in parallel. Although Indian education has come a long way, Gaurav believes there is still a lot more to do to integrate skill development with traditional education.
Gaurav further highlighted the NSDC’s focus on building skill universities in Haryana, Pune, Jaipur and Bhubaneshwar on the model of dual education – where students attend university from Monday to Thursday, and gain practical experience on shop floors on Fridays and Saturdays.
