New Delhi: In an attempt of integrating practical skills in higher education, Government has come up with a plan to launch 200 community colleges on pilot basis, within the existing colleges and polytechnics system, from upcoming session 2013-14. Making the declaration, M M Pallam Raju, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister affirmed that these colleges would act as an effective tool for implementation of the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF), which was notified last year.
While addressing the conference on community colleges conducted by the Ministry of HRD, the minister further informed that these community colleges would provide various opportunities to its students for lifelong learning and bridge courses for level certification that will facilitate their movement from one stream to another. Moreover, these colleges will have various industries including business, service and agriculture allied sectors associated with them, at all levels. This conference was held in the national capital, recently.
As per sources, these community colleges would offer credit based modular courses, which will aid mobility of learners in the employment market. Talking about the advantages of the colleges, the minister said that, for admission into these colleges, members of the local community will be given preference. This will offer a win-win situation for stakeholders, learners, industry and community besides the college. In the conference it also came through that, today, one of the biggest challenges faced by the country is how to bridge the gap between education and employability. These community colleges are expected to tackle the issue quite effectively.
Tara Sonenshine, US Under Secretary of State of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs was also present at the MHRD conference, who discussed about the concept of community colleges in the United States and how it was introduced in the country in 1930s. The US official also notified that the biggest challenge in skill education is how to empower people from all levels of society. This initiative is surely a step towards the right direction.
