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.
Conclusion
No nation could generate the progress unless it promotes technical aspects in its fields. The technical education produces technicians for all type of industries and it is true that the progress of a country much depends upon its Industrialization without which a handsome economy would not be possible, so need today is to formulate a technical education system that not only caters to the needs of the present, but also prepare us for the future.
—Vijay Garg / The Hawk