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.
Informal Education and Learning Pathways: Supporting Livelihood Trajectories of Indian Women in an Urban Slum
How does a school dropout navigate livelihood alternatives? Does transition for an early-school dropout vary from that of a high-school dropout? Recent research in these scenarios of post-school transition to employment has highlighted the influences of extraneous factors like socio-economic status (SES) and influences of the local labour market area (LMA). However, the labour market effects that condition livelihood options may not be the same in the context of a developing country like India, where the proportion of unorganized employment sector is relatively higher with the social context as well as basic education achievement particularly challenging for women.
The development of biological systematics : Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu, nature, and the natural system
A reevaluation of the history of biological systematics that discusses the formative years of the so-called natural system of classification in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Shows how classifications came to be treated as conventions; systematic practice was not linked to clearly articulated theory; there was general confusion over the "shape" of nature; botany, elements of natural history, and systematics were conflated; and systematics took a position near the bottom of the hierarchy of sciences.