Telangana: Vocational courses to get degrees from next year

Hyderabad: For the very first time, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has approved degree and diplomas in vocational courses in Telangana state after 20 private engineering colleges approached it, from the next academic year.

Vocational education or vocational education and training (VET), also called career and technical education (CTE), prepares learners for jobs that are based in manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic and totally related to a specific trade, occupation or vocation.

Colleges like Global Institute of Engineering, DVR College of Engineering, CNR College of Engineering and Technology, AVN Institute of Engineering and Technology have been approved by the AICTE for vocational courses like skill diploma, diploma in vocation, bachelor's of vocation in electronic manufacturing services, automobile servicing, production technology, refrigeration and air conditioning courses etc.

Dr Sreenivas N. Bhupalam, vice-president of All India Federation of Self-Financing Technical Institutions, said this was the first year any regulatory body had allowed vocational courses under the National Skill Qualification Framework. 

Germany and European countries have focused on vocational education system since the sixties and reaped the benefits by producing a steady, skilled labour force and industrialising their economies, Mr Bhupalam said.

General degrees tend to provide a wide range of knowledge whereas vocational courses provide knowledge and training in a specific area thus providing job-ready knowledge and skill. Vocational education is 50 per cent classroom and 50 per cent real-time training, he said.

Mr Goutham Rao, president of the Telangana Private Engineering Colleges, said, “There is a lot of demand for training in construction technology, civil engineering, automobile, pharmacy, textile,  computer courses and mining courses. The government also wants courses in these areas to meet the requirements of industry. These courses will provide enough employment opportunities to students in our country as well as other countries.”