Technical Education : A Foundation Stone For Economic Growth

Maddi Ramesh**

 

 

Abstract

 

The author of this paper would like to highlight the importance of technical education for the economic growth and development of the Human Capital of the country. Technical Education determines the development & socio-economic condition of a nation, there is a greater need for high quality technical education to produce technically skilled manpower for the country. A high quality engineer or technician can obviously be created only through high quality engineering & vocational teaching and training. Activities should be extended for application of Science & Technology to rural areas. The area of emerging technologies such as Information Technology, Telematics, Education Technology, Micro-Electronics, Robotics, Water Resource Managements, Energy Studies, Oceanography etc., are receiving special attention globally for development.

The author of this paper will discuss the successful story of Technical Education in India (where India is called as “knowledge Pool of the World”) along with the Ethiopian Technical Education System. Ethiopia can learn from the experiences of India’s Technical Education System for the development as well as to achieve self-sufficient in technical fields

  

Introduction:

Technical Education determines the development & Socio Economic condition of a nation; there is a greater need for high quality technical education to produce technically skilled manpower for the country. A high quality engineer or technician can obviously be created only through high quality engineering and vocational teaching & training. The areas of emerging technologies such as Information Technology, telematics, education technology, microelectronics, robotics, water resource management, energy studies, oceanographic technology, space technology etc., are receiving special attention globally for development.

Technical Education system is to produce “skill full human resources” in adequate numbers according to the market needs for the development of the country. Pool of skillful human resources contributes to form the knowledge society of the country. This will be the foundation stone for the economic growth of the country.

 


** Senior Lecturer, Awassa TVET College

 

Developing the skill full human resources in every country takes place by two different streams of education viz., technical and non-technical i.e., general fields. General education generates general human capital where as technical education generates skilled human capital.

The debate about the relative benefits of general versus vocational education is often framed by the contrast between American and European Systems of education where as United States emphasizes formal general education in secondary schools, much of Europe relies on vocational training and apprenticeships to prepare its workforce for the labor market. The essential trade off between these two different approaches: “……formal, school based education enabled American youths to change occupations over their lifetimes and respond rapidly to the technological changes. Apprenticeship and highly specific training were more cost effective for individuals who expected to spend their lives in the same place and in the same industry. Thus germanies impressive growth following World War II may have been due to highly skilled qualified work force trained in vocational schools while the superior performance of the US economy in the 1980’s and 90’s during a time rapid technological change may be testimony to the flexible nature of its general education1. The oldest surviving institute in USA is the Rensselear Polytechnique institute at Troy (New York State), which was founded in 1823 and started giving degrees in civil engineering in 18352.

    

History of Technical Education:

Engineering Education unlike others types of professional education, has not had a long history. Though the ancients and medievals had built large brick and stone houses, castles, cities, and huge temples, bad constructed long high highways and aqueducts and dug canals which show considerable knowledge of what are now earned civil and hydraulic engineering and of properties of building materials. This knowledge must have been deprived empirically.

The industrial revolution with the advent of the Industrial Age, which was ushered in by the discovery of the steam engine by James watt about 1780, and the ability to generate & to handle large amounts of power rendered possible by the invention of the steam engine3, men passed from dependence on human labour and hand tools to large and complicated, machinery production of commodities passed from cottage workshops to factories. Transportation by bullock-carts, horse driven carriages and wind or man driven boats, gave way to rail roads and steam ships. All this necessitated the construction of large machines, engines, ships and carriages and gave rise to problems of industrial finance and labour.

 

The nineteenth century has witnessed the birth of many branches of engineering and technology in addition to the classical ones of civil & mechanical.

Technology & Engineering are products of fundamental discoveries in basic sciences, and is well known, these began to accumulate in the late nineteenth & in the twentieth centuries of civilized life. Inventive genius in Europe and America tried to utilize these sciences for new industries and for other human needs. Thus new branches of engineering began to grow.    

 

Human Capital Development through Technical Education:

 

Human Capital, which is by and large, synonymous with human resources development, may be defined as the process of engineering, the knowledge, the skills, and capacities of the people in a country4 with the obvious implication that they will be used to further the process of economic development of the country. Human Resource development is a key role for the country’s development strategy. Education is regarded as the most crucial investment in human development. It significantly contributes to improvement in health, hygiene, demographic profile, productivity and practically all that has a bearing on the quality of life.

General education represents a major form of general human resources development where as technical education represents a major form of skilled human resources development. The exponential growth experienced in the developed countries in the post World War II period can be explained by the higher levels of skill formation in those countries together with the increased application of technology. The great productiveness of a country like America is due less to possession of natural resources then to development of a wide range of skills.

Globalization the easy movement of capitals both financial and fixed assets- and technological progress has increasingly turned on qualified manpower into a crucial competitive edge. Lower labor cost is not sufficient to attract investments. Strong human capital attracts and encourages growth, not the other way around. An educated population also leaves an enduring positive effect economically with larger tax base and socially through increased political involvement5.

The availability and the prevalence of a nation’s human capital determine the rate of growth of its economy and integration in world markets. Human capital investments were less attractive in the 1960’s due to a long maturity period and mobility, yet these issues are still prevalent today and manifest in more radical forms.   

Investment in human capital has proven successful in many developing countries nations including India, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand. Unlike increases in GDP, increases in the quality of human quality, show the extent to which development has reached the population. Investment in education that caters to the immediate needs of industry – both foreign & domestic is essential. The educational system should also maintain the long-term goal of self-reliance, promoting programs that create thinkers and entrepreneurs6. There fore, an investment in human capital should be a part of any economic development policy.

The author wishes to consider India as a case study for Human capital development through technical education where Ethiopian Technical Education System can learn from the experiences of India’s Technical Education System.       

 

Technical Education in India- Case Study:

 

India, the largest democracy in the world, is very much proud of her rich traditional cultural heritage and technically skilled manpower. Technical Education in India have been developing faster than anywhere else in the world, and India now has the second largest number of engineering students in the world. Recent Indian scientific, industrial and technological development, particularly in space, nuclear and missile technology, computer engineering and information science have earned India world recognition as an emerging global power.

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

India has achieved distinction in the field of oceanographic technology. It has succeeded in collecting metallic nodules from the ocean floor, which only very advanced countries could achieve. India’s oceanographic adventure by the scientists of the National Institute of Oceanography with the help of research ship “Gaveshani” in 1981 stunned the big powers and some multi-national who had hoped to monopolize the ocean mining industry. India thus became the first country in world to successfully collect nodules from the ocean. Only six other nations have nodule mining capability viz., the U.S.A, the former U.S.S.R, U.K, Germany, France and Japan. The process gives India access to a vast resource of metals, which have accumulated over millions of years7.

                  Underscoring the importance of oceanographic research, India setup a National Institute of Ocean Technology at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras for undertaking research in the areas of ocean energy, marine instrumentation, ocean engineering system etc.,

India’s abundant, high quality & cost effective services and its vast resource of skilled software human power have made it an attractive location for global software clients. There has been a healthy growth in the number of India’s IT professional over the last decade.

From a base of 6,800 knowledge workers in 1985-86, the number increased to 284,00 Software & service professionals at the end of 1999-2000, 522,00 workers in 2001-2002, 813,000 in 2003-2004 & it touched to One Million Knowledge Workers in 2004-2005 fiscal year. Despite the availability of trained manpower, a demand supply gap still exists in the IT manpower marker. According to NASSCOM, India’s software & services to achieve annual revenue of 70-80 billion in 2008 it has to educate at least 2.2 million additional knowledge workers8. Though the quantity of workers is important. It is the quality of this knowledge base that will ultimately play a crucial role in deciding the fate of the IT industry in India.

Indian software companies are increasingly providing sophisticated solutions for e-commerce, e-banking, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Telecom software, Mobile Internet, WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), Network Integration, Application Development, Robotics, Embedded software, Micro-Electronics Design and Software Engineering among others. 

It is estimated that the largest number of new jobs will be created in the services sector of India, adding some 120 million jobs by the year 2020. The most promising sectors would involve financing, insurance, education, health, construction, and real estate, advertising, printing & packaging etc. These sectors have witnessed much higher than average rates of growth. As international studies suggests, some 80-90 percent of the developed countries economic growth has been determined by knowledge creation and dissemination. The future economy of India is expected to become the knowledge intensive services economy9. Development of vocational knowledge and skills will become a significant part of the forthcoming knowledge revolution in India.

In a recent assessment by the UN, the Indian economy is rated as the sixth largest in the world. The world bank estimates that India will become the fourth largest economy in the world by 2020 as the global markets for textiles, clothing, agricultural products, software- IT enabling services and other products that are well developed in India will expand dramatically10.

 

All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE):

 

All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE) was setup in November 1945 as a national level Apex Advisory Body to conduct survey on the facilities on technical education and to promote development in the country in a coordinated and integrated manner. AICTE be vested with statutory authority for planning, formulation, and maintenance of norms and standards, quality assurance through accreditation , funding in priority areas, monitoring and evaluation, maintaining the parity of certification and awards & ensuring coordinated & integrated development and management of technical education in the country.

The purview of AICTE covers programmes of technical education including training and research in Engineering Technology, Architecture, Town Planning, Management, Pharmacy, Applied Arts & crafts, Hotel Management, Catering etc., at different levels11.

 

Technical Education is imparted at three different levels in India & total annual training capacity is estimated about 2.8 million.

 

Ø      Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), which conduct trade courses for skilled workers.

Ø      Polytechnique Institutes, which conduct diplomas to produce middle level technicians.

Ø      Engineering Colleges, which conduct undergraduate & post graduate degree courses in Engineering & Technology.

 

Industrial Training Institutes (ITI):

The craftsmen training is offered in nearly two thousand government or privately managed ITI’s. Craftsmen’s training was introduced in 1950 for imparting fulltime training through ITI’s in various trades. Training is offered to persons within the age group of 14-25 in 43 engineering & 24 non-engineering trades. The period of training varies from one to three years. In October 2002, the CTS was being delivered by state governments through some 4,650 public & private training institutes, with a total capacity of around 678,000. Out of this 373,000 seats are in some 1800 government ITI’s & 305,000 are in 2850 private ITI’s training seats. A new trend emerged in 2003 when some 36 new courses of 6months duration mainly covering unorganized sector were added to the CTS. Educational qualifications for admission to ITI’s under the CTS vary from 8 to 12 grade depending upon trade12.

 

 

Polytechnic Institutes:

Polytechnic institutes which conduct diploma program to produce middle level technicians and supervisors for the country. This sub-system consists of a well-knit chain of polytechnics, which provide broad based education in engineering as well as some non-engineering areas. The minimum qualification for entry into a polytechnique is grade 10th certificate. The courses are generally of three-year duration but a few range between two to four years. There are nearly 1,134 polytechnics with annual admission 186,235 (1997 statistics) 13. The training is mostly institutional with some industrial experience). They aim to meet the manpower needs of the organized sector.    

 

Engineering Colleges:

Degree and Postgraduate courses are conducted in engineering colleges affiliated to the various universities. Certain universities departments and institutions declared as the national importance or as Deemed Universities. The minimum qualification for entry into a Engineering colleges is 12th grade certificate. The courses are generally of four-year duration at graduate level & two year duration for post-graduate level. There are nearly 571 engineering college with annual admissions 134,795 during 199714. Engineering seats has been increase to 464,743 in 2004-05 & now the present admissions are estimated around 625,000.

 

Indian Institute of Technology:

Internationally renowned engineering institutions known as Indian Institute of Technology were established in 1950 has become synonymous with excellence in technology and engineering education in India. IIT offers under graduate, integrated post-graduate & post-graduate programs in various engineering, science, technology and management disciplines. The six IITs are located at kharagpur (near Calcutta) , Madras , Bombay, kanpur, Delhi, & Guwahati. Entrance to the undergraduate programmes at these institutions is extremely competitive and is based on strictly on student’s results in the nationwide Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).

 

 

 Regional Engineering College:

In terms of quality education & prestige, the Regional engineering college (REC’s) is second only to the IIT’s. The government of India has created 17 REC’s throughout the country to be centers of excellence for the promotion of basic and advanced research and technological education at a higher level. Each engineering college is functioning as an all –India institution admitting students and recruiting faculty from all parts of the country. Fifty percent of the admissions of these institutions (each of which being equipped for a total annual students intake of 250) are reserved for students from the other states than the ones in which they are located.

Indian institute of Science, Bangalore:

The IISc, bangalore the oldest & leading postgraduate and research center in science & engineering has facilities in special fields which include electronics & communication engineering, aeronautical engineering, heat & power engineering, high voltage engineering, power engineering, bio-chemistry, chemistry, physics, & mathematics. A major center in Automation and control systems and another in electronics design technology are in the process of establishment.

India Institute of Information Technology (IIIT):

One of the remarkable initiatives undertaken to increase the information technology work force in India was during 1998. This was setting up of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT).

IIIT –Hyderabad was the first IIIT involving government –Industry partnership commencing its academic session in 1998. Now it is renamed as International institute of information technology due to its excellence performance in the field of IT.

            Most of the IIIT’s have begun as a joint initiative between the Government & Industry, while some of them as in Gwalior & Allahabad are solely government initiations. The National IT task force has recommended that the IIIT should be given the status of a Deemed University.

            The aim of the IIIT is to give both computers –software engineering degrees as well as to conduct short-term courses for industry sponsored candidates. One of the unique concepts under implementation is to allow private sector companies to affiliate their own schools with IIIT’s. IIIT Hyderabad for instance has affiliated schools of IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Satyam and Metamor. More are expected to join the bandwagon. While IIIT Bangalore has made international news, through its global quality infrastructure and faculty. The software industry of Bangalore is fully supportive of IIIT-bangalore, both in terms of hiring professionals as well as getting their employees trained in IIIT – Bangalore.

In the coming years, the models of IIIT-hyderabad & IIIT –Bangalore will emerge as role models for setting up of IIIT’s in other states to meet the demand of the software industry.

In addition to the above institutions offering courses at degree and post graduate level, there is a wide network of engineering colleges established & administered by the state governments, universities & private agencies. They are also affiliated to the respective universities, and other degree courses in a variety of subject fields. Some of them are more than a century old & have been pioneers in engineering education in the country. Many of these state colleges & university departments are making significant contribution to the field of technical education.

 

Industry- Institute Interaction:

Most of the institutes have a memorandum of understanding to facilitate & coordinate institutions & industry collaboration, Industries provide certain physical & training facilities to the institution and in return the Institute offers continuing education to their working professionals. Industry expert and technical staff work as a team with the institute’s staff and participate in workshops, conferences and short courses.

Industry managers, supervisors, & executives, who are able to share practical experiences with the students, are invited as guest lecturers. Student’s vacations are effectively utilized by working in the industry with a small incentive in the form of scholarship or wages. Every department of the institution has an R&D section partly funded by industry, with one staff member being its coordinator. The involvement of students under the guidance of a supervisor for undertaking industry-oriented projects is not only useful to the students & academic staff but also promotes interactive networking between the institution & the involved industries.

 

Ethiopia’s Technical Education: -

Until the early 1900’s formal education was confined to a system of religious instruction organized and presented under the aegis of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Church schools prepared individuals for the clergy and for other religious duties and positions.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century MenelikII had also permitted the establishment of European Missionary schools. At the same time, Islamic schools provided some education for a small part of the Muslim population.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the education system’s failure to meet the needs of people involved in statecraft diplomacy, commerce, and industry led to the introduction of government – sponsored secular education. The first public school was established in Addis Ababa in 1907 and a year later primary school opened in Harar.

In 1925 the government adopted a plan to expand a secular education, but ten years later there were only 8,000 students enrolled in twenty public schools. Schools closed during the Italian occupation of 1936-1941. By 1952 a total of 60,000 students were enrolled in 400 primary schools, eleven secondary schools and three institutions offering college level courses. In the 1960’s 310 missionary and privately operated schools with an enrollment of 52,000 supplements the country’s public school system.

The Ethiopian education system, especially in primary and secondary education was ranked the bottom among the African nations. Embarrassed by this record the Ministry of Education developed a new education policy, which was in effect until 1974. The policy gave precedence to the establishment of technical training schools, although academic education also was expanded. Under the revised system, the two-year junior secondary schools offered a general academic program for individuals who wished to continue their education. A number of vocational subjects prepared others to enter technical or vocational schools. Some practical experience in the use of tools was provided, which qualified graduates as semi-skilled workers.

With the Soviet Assistance, Ethiopia established its first polytechnic institute, in Bahir Dar in the 1960’s. It trained personnel in agro mechanics, industrial chemistry, electricity, textile and metal working technology. In addition, a system of general polytechnic education had been introduced into the senior secondary school curriculum so that those who did not continue their education still could venture into the skilled job market.

         There were two institutions of higher education: - Haile Se lassie I university in Addis Ababa formed by Imperial Charter in 1961, and the private university of Asmara, founded by a Roman Catholic religious order based in Italy15.

Higher education expanded modestly in the period of after 1975. The college of Agriculture at Alemaya, which was part of A.A.U, was granted independent university status in 1985. Graduate programs were offered in several fields, including engineering, natural science agriculture, social sciences and medicines. Other diploma granting independent colleges trained middle-level manpower in several fields. These included the College of Teacher Education, the Junior Commerce, and the Municipal Technical College all in Addis Ababa. There was more emphasis on the creation of technical and vocational schools, most of which were operated by the government. The Ministry of Education operated or supervised nine such schools scattered around the country. These schools had an enrollment of more than 4,200 in 1985-86 and their graduates were in great demands by industry.   

At present in Ethiopia technical education is imparted in two different levels:

1.      Universities/Higher Education

2.      TVET Colleges/Schools

 

Universities/Higher Education:

At present, there are eight universities in the country, which is providing the higher education and granting degrees including in the field of Engineering such as civil, electrical, electronics, computer science, etc., which is contributing in production of engineers for the development of the country. Nazareth Technical College is also offering degree & diploma programs in the field of technical education, which is going to be the technical university in the near future. The minimum qualification for admission into these courses is 12th grade.

The total enrollment of the students (Refer Table 1) in the higher education institutions in the year 2001-2002 is 91,719. Out of this total enrollment 10,598 are enrolled in under engineering fields i.e., 12% of the total enrollment, enrollment of the students in the field of health is 5,942 i.e., 6% and agriculture is 6,648 i.e., 7%. There fore the total percentage of enrollment in technical education is 26%.  Enrollment of the students in Education field is 26% & half of the enrollment is studying the computer, which is a positive sign. But the figures are in discouraging state. There is need to improvement in the number of engineers for the country.

Table 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution of Tertiary Enrollments by Academic Program, 2001/2002

 

Social

Science

Business/

Economics

 

Educ

 

Law

 

Health

 

Science

Tech/

Engineer

 

Agric

 

Other

 

Total

Public

Degree

 

3,164

 

1,774

 

3,935

 

661

 

1,975

 

2,445

 

4,530

 

2,948

 

347

 

21,779

Public

Diploma

 

0

 

2,556

 

3,865

 

88

 

2,065

 

175

 

906

 

1,691

 

299

 

11,645

Evening

976

10,846

16,088

1,024

1,779

768

4,547

1,924

1,252

39,204

Private

0

15,271

30

730

123

0

875

85

1,977

19,091

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL

4,140

30,447

23,918

2,503

5,942

3,388

10,858

6,648

3,875

91,719

Percent

5

33

26

3

6

4

12

7

4

100

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* roughly half of these are studying computer technology.

Source:  Education Statistics Annual Abstracts, 2001/2002

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technical & Vocational Education Training Program:

The new education & training policy gives special attention to TVET by providing broad and multilevel foundations. Presently TVET is divided into training for agriculture, health, and teacher training. Serious attention is given to industrial, commercial and skill trainings as well as training manpower for the development of the program that the country needs. Trainees are also encouraged through entrepreneur education to create jobs for themselves.

In Ethiopia there are number of Public and Private Technical and Vocational Education providers. During the academic year 2003-04 there were 107 Government and 51 Non-Governmental TVET centers in the country enrolling a total of 87,158 students. Of which 58,447 were regular and 28,711 were extension program students. Government run TVET has enrolled 48,198 regular students while 10,249 regular students were enrolled in non-governmental institutions. The share of female enrollment has reached 41,360 (47.5 %) of the total vocational training students in Ethiopia is a positive sign of development.

During the same year, 25 government TVET centers run by the Ministry of Agriculture enrolled a total of 37,579 students out of these 31,987 were males and 5,592 females. These training centers offer training in animal science, plant science, natural resources, Co-operative and Animal Health.

Most of the TVET centers are upgraded to college level and offering the courses upto diploma  & building the Ethiopia’s Middle level technicians for the future development of the counter.

According to the statistics of TVET enrollment (refer table), the enrollment of the trainees is very high in the field of Business (51.69%) of total enrollment across the country. While Industrial (25.6%), Construction (11.18%), Garment & Textile technology (2.51%), Hotel Service (2.51%), Health (1.24%), Water Technology (0.44%) and others (4.83%) are in discouraging state.

Majority of the enrollment is in the field of Business field i.e, 51.69%, where we are producing secretaries & accounting workers instead of technically skilled people. Every field has its saturation point and Accounting & Secretarial science has reached saturation point. Now it’s time to concentrate on other fields, which are in discouraging state.

One of the reasons for poverty is mismatch of human resources and market needs. For instance, enrollment of the students in Construction field is just 11.18% i.e., 9,739 registrations. But Ministry of Education awarded the construction of 13 universities to GTZ last year. The construction of these 13 universities would create job opportunity to nearly 20,000 skilled graduates of TVET institutions16. According to statistics there will be shortage of 10,261 skilled workers for the construction of these universities. It is quite obvious that the productivity of a properly trained worker will be much higher than that of unskilled one. This just the beginning for Ethiopia and it had to go a long way.

Ethiopia has vast water resources. Of which even 10% is not utilized properly. Inspite of availability of water resources, in most parts of the country there is no availability of clean drinking water, irrigation is not that much progress. TVET should give more attention to train the trainees on the usage of water technology  & should contribute for the development of the country in the irrigation field.

   Government should take the initiations for the development of the small-scale industries and promote the private sector to play a vital role in poverty reduction & employment generation for the Industrial graduates.

Government policy makers should take concrete steps to arrange the financial support for technical graduates in the form of loans through the banks and finance institutions. It helps in the reduction of   dependence on jobs & promotes for self-employment.

The high skilled/competitive TVET graduates must have the access for the higher education in order to update his/her skills in the technical fields. So there should be co-operation between the higher education & TVET centers to achieve a self-sufficient in technical fields for the country.

Ethiopia’s National Statistics of TVET enrollment by the Field of Specialization17

S.No

Occupation Title

Total Number of Trainees.

Male

Female

Total

1

Business

Accounting

6596

8940

15536

2

Banking & Insurance

1108

1979

3087

3

Marketing

1397

1985

3382

4

Purchasing

1477

2428

3905

5

Secretarial Science

492

9648

10140

6

Information Technology

3946