Vocational Training in India

India is a country on the rise: The country has for several years had the status of the world’s second fastest growing economy and is predicted within the next few years to become one of the world’s three largest economies along with the United States and China. At the same time, a very large proportion of the world’s population lives in India – in 2012 India’s population was just over 1.2 billion – and the country alone plays a very important role in international politics and economics due to its size and economic heavyweight.

As one of countries starting with letter I listed on Countryaah.com, India is increasingly a crucial market for international and Danish companies, and Denmark has established an innovation center in New Delhi / Bangalore, which i.a. will help Danish companies with research and innovation-driven needs in the Indian market. You can read about the new Danish innovation centers here

India is also a land of contrasts – although rapid economic growth has lifted many out of poverty and contributed to a growing middle class, the gap between rich and poor in the country is still very large.

Education in India, like many other parts of Indian society, is undergoing significant upheavals in line with the country’s economic growth, and education is seen as an important factor for sustained and inclusive economic growth.

At the higher level, India’s education system is the world’s third largest. Education in India is handled centrally by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, where higher education falls under the Department of Higher Education. However, the 28 Indian states have considerable freedom to organize their own teaching. English has official status as an “associate language” – ie. English is used as the primary language in politics, administration and trade, and the level of English in India is generally relatively high. At several local educational institutions, the language of instruction is in the local language.

Worth knowing

Vocational training in India

Vocational training in India is provided by more than 17 different ministries, including the Directorate General for Employment and Training in the Ministry of Labor and Employment. The various opportunities for vocational education last between 6 months and 4 years, and include the following:

• Craftsman Training Scheme (CTS)(1 to 3 years, possibly 6 months for some programs from 2003-) based on 8 to 12 years of schooling and completed with National Trade Certificate.
• Apprenticeship Training Scheme(½ to 4 years) based on prior vocational training and completed with National Apprenticeship Certificate (NAC).
• Polytechnic education(1- 3- (4) years) based on 10, possibly. 12 years of schooling and completed with a diploma.

India is working to develop a National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF)for its vocational education and training. This framework for vocational training is already being implemented in some Länder.

You can read more about vocational education in India at the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of School, Education and Literacy via topschoolsintheusa.com.

Internship

If you are thinking of taking all or part of your own internship abroad, read the section on internships abroad for vocational education under the section Primary school and upper secondary education

Economics and education

You pay tuition fees for higher education in India, and if you plan to take your entire education in India, or to leave as a guest student as part of your Danish education, this will also be the case. At public universities, however, the fees are not very high. For the private universities, the fees will be somewhat higher, but still cheaper than countries such as the USA, England and Australia. The exact fee will vary from university to university.

If you are studying in India as part of your education in Denmark through an exchange stay between your own university and the person in question in India, you do not have to pay, in some cases with the exception of special administration fees.

As a Danish student, you can take your SU abroad. It requires that the study stay is part of your Danish education, and that your Danish place of education approves that the study stay gives full credit. You can also apply for support through a scholarship abroad that fully or partially covers study-related expenses on approved study stays.

You can read more about the possibilities for SU abroad and a scholarship abroad at SU.dk – SU abroad

At the same time, you can apply for support through private grants

Work in India

Unemployment in India is, despite the country’s growth, relatively high, but the assessment of the concrete figure is hampered by the generally high tendency among particularly Indian youth to find self-employed, unregistered work that does not require an education.

Estimates of total unemployment in 2013 were 8.8% (CIA World Factbook). There is high unemployment among young people with a higher education.

Thus, the opportunities for work for foreigners in India are relatively limited, and in recent years the Indian government has been particularly focused on foreigners not taking jobs that are already in short supply.

Therefore, the strategy is instead to focus on highly educated foreigners with specially specialized skills, which in the last few years has been guided by regulation of a minimum level that wages of skilled, foreign work must not fall below.

To be able to work in India (also applies to voluntary work) you must have a work visa. A work visa is typically issued for a period of one year, or for the purpose of the applicant’s employment contract. The visa can be extended.

Thus, in order to obtain a work visa, you must be able to prove that you have found work in India, e.g. through a contract which describes the applicable conditions for your employment.