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Vocational Education and Training in India: Prospects and Challenges from an Outside Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Matthias Pilz

    (Matthias Pilz are both Chair at the Economics and Business Education, University of Cologne)

  • Julia Regel

    (Julia Regel are both Chair at the Economics and Business Education, University of Cologne; E-mail: julia.regel@uni-koeln.de)

Abstract

With high economic growing rates and an evident shortage of skilled workers, the modernisation of formal vocational education and training (VET) in India increasingly came into focus. Skill development has been on top of the agenda of the Indian government for more than a decade, resulting in state policies and related schemes to upgrade and develop a system struggling with quantitative and qualitative issues. This article gives an overview of the main pillars of the Indian VET system and addresses policies and initiatives to restructure and upgrade formal VET in India. Finally, the main challenges as well as potential for a further development of the sector are highlighted from different systemic perspectives. JEL Codes: I 210, I 280

Suggested Citation

  • Matthias Pilz & Julia Regel, 2021. "Vocational Education and Training in India: Prospects and Challenges from an Outside Perspective," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 15(1), pages 101-121, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:mareco:v:15:y:2021:i:1:p:101-121
    DOI: 10.1177/0973801020976606
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Manoj Kumar, 2016. "Vocational Education and Training in India," International Journal of Adult Vocational Education and Technology (IJAVET), IGI Global, vol. 7(1), pages 1-24, January.
    2. Zenner, Lea & Kothandaraman, Kumar & Pilz, Matthias, 2017. "Entrepreneurship education at Indian industrial training institutes: A case study of the prescribed, adopted and enacted curriculum in and around Bangalore," International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET), European Research Network in Vocational Education and Training (VETNET), European Educational Research Association, vol. 4(1), pages 69-94.
    3. United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2017. "India Skills Report 2017," Working Papers id:11658, eSocialSciences.
    4. World Bank, 2018. "World Development Report 2018 [Rapport sur le développement dans le monde 2018]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28340, April.
    5. Schneider, Sebastian & Pilz, Matthias, 2019. "The function and institutional embeddedness of Polytechnics in the Indian education system," International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET), European Research Network in Vocational Education and Training (VETNET), European Educational Research Association, vol. 6(3), pages 284-308.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Albertz, Annabell & Pilz, Matthias, 2025. "Green skills at Industrial Training Institutes in India: An exploratory study of VET teachers’ subjective theories," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    2. Navid Khan & Ke Xing & Salman Mahmood, 2025. "Economic Growth through Determinants of Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Pakistan: Mediating Role of Human Resource Development," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(2), pages 7061-7084, June.
    3. Bolli, Thomas & McDonald, Patrick & Renold, Ursula, 2025. "Labor market effects of a dual-VET apprenticeship: Evidence from Nepal," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    4. Nzube Cyril Muoghalu & Adnan bin Ahmad, 2024. "Multinational Companies’ Approaches to Transfer of Skill Formation in Technical Vocational Education and Training; A Systematic Literature Review," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(5), pages 1216-1232, May.
    5. Temitayo SHENKOYA, 2024. "Exploring the interconnection of geographical mobility and skilled labor as a pathway to sustainable development: a case analysis of South Korea to derive lessons for Nigeria," Romanian Journal of Economics, Institute of National Economy, vol. 59(2(68)), pages 175-191, December.

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