NEP, 2020: CHALLENGES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN INDIA

Abstract

Since independence, policymakers in India exhibited their increasing tendency to use vocational education and training (VET) as a catchall solution to the problem of unemployment and as a result kept it alive as an important policy tool even today. Recently, National Education Policy, (NEP, 2020) envisioned that at least 50% of our students should receive VET by 2025, and to achieve this target and in comprehension to address different challenges of VET, the policy made several propositions and proposed for different structural changes. A critical question arises how far these policy propositions and structural changes could prove helpful in addressing the challenges of VET and in achieving the desired objectives. The present review study made an attempt to examine thoroughly the approach to VET manifested in the policy. Backed up with in-depth desktop analysis of a considerable amount of literature and the web portals of VET related institutions, the study identified different needs necessarily required for overcoming the challenges of VET, for achieving the desired objectives as envisioned in the policy, and finally for the future development process of VET in India.