The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Plan to strengthen industry, school tie-up for vocational education

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 08, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Plan to strengthen industry, school tie-up for vocational education

M. Dinesh Varma

Teachers, officials discuss methods of implementation Teachers, officials discuss methods of implementation

CHENNAI: Vocational education is set to receive a shot in the arm with Government planning to strengthen industry linkage for the sector at the school level.

As part of this, meetings will be convened among school principals, vocational teachers, industry representatives, students and parents to explore means to improve employability as well as to increase recruitment rates of vocational students passing out of school.

On Friday, over 100 school headmasters and vocational teachers participated in a brainstorming session convened by Education Department officials to discuss ways to implement industry linkage for schools in the city.

The larger plan is to extend such linkages across Tamil Nadu.

Though a small percentage of students of vocational courses find jobs on passing out of school, a significant number of candidates drop out of education after failing to get a job or seat in a preferred higher education course.

A panel has been constituted to visit industrial units and interact with officials to gauge the skills they are looking for in young candidates.

Image boosting exercise

The intent of the initiative is to strengthen the image of vocational education as an attractive option among school students, said Dharma Rajendran, Chief Educational Officer, Chennai.

While according to current estimates, only 15 per cent of students find a job on graduation, it is proposed to increase the placement rate to at least 50 per cent, he said.

Apart from job potential, the scope for self-employment will also be highlighted to vocational students.

As many as 40 courses are currently available either as electives in Higher Secondary Schools or taught in exclusively vocational schools.

Of the 55,000 vocational students, 15,000 are in Chennai alone.

Meeting planned

The Department of School Education will convene a meeting with school headmasters and industry representatives and follow it up with a session between students and parents.

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