The economic progress, as well as the overall progress of
any nation, is strongly linked with the quality of education that is being
imparted with the values. Education is something that determines overall progress
as well as the standard of a particular region, state or country. Education
today has become one of the most important tools that determine the success of
a person. Education these days has become an essential part of human growth.
One of the greatest aspects of the education is technical education. Though it
is very important to have general moral education also, technical education
plays an equally important role in the developmental process of a nation.
Higher education generally falls, into two categories, either training in the
fine arts, the humanities, cultural patterns and behaviour that aims to develop
a man's overall personality. On the other hand, technical education aims
primarily at equipping a man for work in the practical sense of getting him fit
for a job.
Liberal education, in origin, has its roots in our society
is older than technical education and obviously, it is more popular than
technical education in our country. But the need of the hour is to build up a
strong base in technical education too, that would help our country to stand at
power with other powerful countries of the world. It was only with the
advancement of industrialization that the people came to realize the
importance of technical education. The Industrial Revolution brought about a great
change in the outlook of men regarding education. After the industrial
revolution, technical education was seen as a scope for the future and a lot of
emphases was put on the topic at various education levels and an even separate
council was also set up to ensure proper technical literacy. The increasing use
of machinery was the major reason that compelled us to feel the necessity of
technical education as a major need. All the developed, as well as developing
countries of the world, have started to impart specialized training to their
youths in order to maintain their supremacy in the field of the industrial
revolution.
Technical education is something related very closely to the
economic stability of a country too, good technical skills can effect some new
technological innovations as well as also helpful in getting good jobs at
national as well as international level. It, therefore, becomes very important
for our technical education to undertake periodic review of the curriculum and
subject content of the technical programmes to ensure that they are up to date
and are effectively fulfilling the technological requirements of the country at
par with international standards.
Development of Technical Education in India
Education scenario in our country has not been fair enough,
before the advent of industrialization, education in India was the privilege
of the upper class, and there were no major opportunities for others to gain
some quality education. With the popularisation of Technical education in
India, it has given a new dignity as well as status to the labour class and
lower class in the country. The old myth that mental work is superior to
physical work has been replaced by the new concept of education and physical
work has gained a lot of respect as well as its due benefits and is looked upon
as field of careers these days. Technical education makes a man capable of
diving deep into the realities of life and presents before him a true picture
of life.
India is gaining pace in the terms of technical education
since the attainment of freedom the progress made in the field of technical
education in the country is not bad, but in view of the tremendous need and the
present circumstances, the pace of progress is not quite satisfactory and need
some more reforms.
The beginning of formal Technical Education in India started
way back to the mid of 19th Century. The major policy initiatives in the
pre-independence period included appointment of the Indian Universities
Commission in 1902, issue of the Indian Education policy resolution in 1904 and
the Governor General's policy statement. A major step was the formation of
Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) that was founded in the year 1967
with a mission to advance for the cause of education in general and all its
function which pertain to engineering and allied branches of engineering and
technology, architecture and town planning, pharmacy, management, process of
teaching and learning, research, extension services and public relations in
particular. The main goal was to serve as a common agency for stimulating and
guiding its members to formulate the general goals and responsibilities of
technical education for the service of mankind and the advancement of general
welfare.
Another major initiative in the terms of technical education
was taken in the year 1987, with the development of AICTE that was the giving
of statutory status by an Act of Parliament. AICTE is the All India Council for
Technical Education, which was first established in 1945 and later given
statutory status by the parliament in the year 1945.
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
To ensure proper technical education in the country, at par
with international standards an advisory board was established. The All India
Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the statutory body and a
national-level council for technical education, under Department of Higher
Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. It can be seen way back in
the year 1945 that an advisory board was established and later on in 1987 it
was given statutory status by an Act of Parliament. All India Council for Technical
Education (AICTE) is responsible for proper planning and coordinated
development of the technical education and management education system in India
which is aimed to constantly improve the level of technical education in the
country. The AICTE accredits postgraduate and graduate programs under specific
categories at Indian institutions as per its charter, and is controlling body
that approves all the technical institutes as well as colleges in the country.
AICTE is not working alone in the field of technical
education and is assisted by 10 Statutory Boards of Studies, namely, UG Studies
in Eng. & Tech., PG and Research in Eng. and Tech., Management Studies,
Vocational Education, Technical Education, Pharmaceutical Education,
Architecture, Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Information Technology,
Town and Country Planning. The AICTE has its headquarters in 7th Floor,
Chanderlok Building, Janpath, New Delhi, which has the offices of the chairman,
vice-chairman and the member secretary, plus it has regional offices at
Kolkata, Chennai, Kanpur, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Bhopal, Bangalore,
Hyderabad and Gurgaon.
There is a need for a governmental body that oversees all
the aspect of the technical education in the country and makes sure everything
is carried out in the field of technical education, as per the standards. This
need was fulfilled by the AICTE, that is the statutory authority for planning,
formulation and maintenance of norms and standards, quality assurance through
school 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 as
part of the AICTE Act No. 52 of 1987.
Technical Education and Liberal Education
There is no doubt that at present there are very few good
technical institutions in the country that are catering to the needs of the
technically trained individual according to the international levels. Most of
our young men have some preconceptions against all types of manual labour and
mostly prefer a job in some office to doing work with their hands. Today
everyone wants a white-collar job; as a result, the manual labour is degrading.
Unemployment, on the other hand, is also a major concern and hence stares at
the youth of the country in the face. The jobs of clerks in offices too are
limited. All educated young minds cannot be absorbed in this vocation. Hence
need today is to have a high knowledge level in order to have a good job.
Technical education these days is only likely to succeed
when a large part of the nation has become sufficiently literate. Technical
education is not only limited to doing an engineering course or some high fees
for designing course. It is an excellent thing to train an electrician’s son in
the latest development of his trade, but it is really absurd to expect him to
become a first-class electrical engineer unless he has gone through a primary
course with proper education. It is, therefore, not wise to put liberal and
technical educations in water-tight compartments and there is a vast
difference. The proper policy would be to stress liberal education in the early
stage and then commence with the main course of technical education basing on
the student’s choice of scientific research on aptitude and inclination.
Challenges in the Field of Technical Education
Globalization has resulted in many new challenges in the
field of the technical education system not only in our country but also around
the world. With the growing modernization, the demand for trained technical
workers is also increasing day by day. Also with the demand is rising the hunt
for the quality. This scenario has also led to a lot of challenges in the field
of technical education in our country. Till recently technologies were mostly
imported to our country and the training needed for these technologies were
generally carried abroad. Globalization has opened the economy to global
players in the industry and service sectors as a result of which, new products
and services are being introduced continuously with improved quality and
customer focus. The most important factor in the success of this new brand of
industries and service units is only by meeting them with a group of highly
motivated and meticulously trained forces in the field of technical education.
The knowledge and technical skills of this workforce have to be regularly
updated. The engineer coming out of our institution should be capable of
meeting the challenges of the modern industry and the question is what are we
really capable of this?
There is no doubt that India is rich in mineral resources
but it is also a fact that most of them have not yet been explored. The
government is committed to utilizing this wealth, but the problem is that we do
not have sufficient level to explore these resources by ourselves, with the
present level of our technical literacy. More and more technical institutions
are, therefore, being opened with a vision to raise the level of technical
education in the country. A large number of technical hands are pouring out of
our universities every year. It is a happy sign of the times but unfortunately,
our industries are still mediocre and the number of jobs is less. It would be
harsh to say that we are lacking far behind, but the fact is that we are a
developing nation still struggling to reach out some unexplored resources. Our
quest to achieve is the main driving force towards the success, and we need to
capitalize the fact.
(Email: vkmalout@gmail.com)