Reflections on Colonial Legacy and Dependency in Indian Vocational Education and Training (VET): A societal and cultural perspective
The article by Singh examines centre-periphery relations in terms of colonial legacy in the field of technical and vocational education in India. Colonial neglect of vocational education had the effect of destroying existing indigenous systems of vocational learning that were embedded in distinctive local socioeconomic and cultural contexts. This legacy has continued even after India's Independence and is strongly reflected in manpower development plans and discourses of international agencies, which cater primarily to the needs of the formal economy. However, as the informal economy increasingly comes to be seen as the key ground both for economic growth and poverty eradication, so the ability of education and training to promote informal sector activities needs to come to the fore even further in government and agency concerns. The article draws upon empirical studies to provide a comprehensive picture of the educational processes and the competency people in the informal economy want, need and utilise. For, if vocational training and education is to cater to both the formal and informal labour markets, then it is necessary to learn from the periphery and to take into account the traditions and values of the system of vocational learning in working life. What the author describes for India has applicability for many countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.
A View from the Outside: India’s School to Work Transition Challenge – Strengths and Weakness
School to work transition and the preparation for the world of work are highly important aspects in India’s education and training policy (King 2012).
Convergence Anatomization of Aquaculture Production in Leading Fish-Producing Countries During the Period of 1997-2013
Growth and national importance of aquaculture production is empirically assessed as an important indicator of development. The present article aims to test whether the major aquaculture producing countries of the world are converging over time. The authors have applied the absolute and conditional beta convergence and sigma convergence approaches on the data of FAO for the period 1997-2013. The results show that there is an absolute beta convergence and sigma convergence among 25 major aquaculture producing countries; negative sign of coefficient of conditional beta convergence with per capita income is also noticed. It implies, the growth rates of aquaculture for developed nations are declining with rise in per capita income and backward fish-intensive countries are catching up with the giant producers like China and India. The cross-country variations are also going down which means that the countries' development gaps are getting narrowed by means of growth of aquaculture resources.