“Across the developing world, the challenge of providing appropriate education and relevant skills to rural youth needs to be met — it is necessary to provide a basic education that motivates them to study, training to give them skills for the labor market and opportunities for some to pursue higher education.”
                                                                       Laura Brewer

Education in India has been the privilege of a very few since time immemorial. It has also been the only reason in creating a divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, thus, creating a ‘Shining India Vs Rural Bharat’. There has been a serious lacuna in the delivery of quality education since it is a State subject and standardisation of the same has been an issue for all. To add to the complexity, we have many institutes mushrooming in the private sector, making the quality and accreditation elusive.

The initiative of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) on Community Colleges that has brought in a hope in bridging the gap in the demand and supply of the job market. The Indira IGNOU in July 2009 launched 100 Community Colleges (TARA Community College is honored to be one of them) to start Associate Degree programmes for disadvantaged people of the country who are willing to develop their career through educational empowerment and improve their livelihoods.

The Vice Chancellor IGNOU, Professor V N Rajasekharan Pillai feels that ‘the Community Colleges will be a grassroots movement targeting deprived students who could not get formal degrees for various socio-economic reasons and also for those who dropped out of the existing educational system. Our job is to educate them with input of quality education and training, build up their innate capacities and make them employable. They will be groomed in the very areas they are engaged to work for their livelihood.’

The Community College is an alternative system of education, which is aimed at the empowerment of the disadvantaged and the underprivileged (urban poor, rural poor, tribal poor and women) through appropriate skills development, leading to gainful employment in collaboration with the local industry and the community and achieve skills for employment and self employability of the above sections of people in the society. The Community College is an innovative educational alternative that is rooted in the community, providing holistic education and eligibility for employment to the disadvantaged. The vision of the Community College is to be of the Community, for the Community and by the Community aimed at producing responsible citizens. The Community College promotes job-oriented, work-related, skill-based and life-coping education.

The key words of the Community College system are access, flexibility in curriculum and teaching methodology, cost effectiveness and equal opportunity in collaboration with industrial, commercial and service sectors of the local area, responding to the social needs and issues of the local community, internship and job placement within the local area, promotion of self employment and small business development, declaration of competence and eligibility for employment.

Community Colleges need to be the hub of all rural activities

The Community College initiative’s success depends on the four pillars, namely Government, Community, University and the Industry. All the partners need to chip in their bit to make this movement a success. The Community Colleges, with their heart in the right place, should ensure that there is ‘empathy’ while delivering, which is crucial. At the same time, it should make the people believe that they have got to earn it and no entitlements will help. The Development Alternatives (DA) Group, through its TARA Community College, thus, will be taking another step forward to reach out to the millions in need of education and empowerment.

In the United States of America - where the concept of Community Colleges is popular - more than 40% of their college aged students begin their academic careers at community colleges. Today, India is battling with a huge 88% dropout rate from secondary schools. These students fail to register in the next level due to various reasons. The Community Colleges aim to provide this segment with quality education apropos to relevant vocational training through modular courses and community led participation.

The problem of school dropouts (already working) can be handled by the Community Colleges by providing them with multi-skills since they already have the experience. These students can enroll for certificate courses. Lack of recognition was the major problem faced by those who had passed out from the Community Colleges in India earlier but accreditation by IGNOU has taken care of the same. IGNOU will ensure horizontal or lateral mobility of the students, making it possible for the students to become employed.

The TARA Community College, with a mission to reach out to the millions through appropriate skill development of the rural youth in Bundelkhand, enabling them to be employed, was inaugurated by Dr Pankaj Atri, the Vice Chancellor of Bundelkhand University, on August 20, 2009, with huge community participation. The IGNOU recognises TARA Community College as an initiative of the DA Group.

Recognition by the IGNOU will help the Community Colleges to obtain stipends / scholarships to the deserving poor from various agencies of both State and Central Governments, as finding and maintaining employment requires broad-based occupational skills or specific job-related skills, acquired in training institutions or on the job.

The IGNOU will examine the course materials to ensure the standard, accreditation, proper evaluation, value-addition to the course materials, and monitor their functioning - both pedagogical as well as administrative - before ensuring certification by an Associate Degree. The entire concept is aimed at social development through education and skill-based, need-based training. The IGNOU will also ensure successful students’ employment as the entire course material will have to be created in collaboration with the industry and corporate world.

In today’s rapidly evolving and globally competitive economy, there is an increased demand for personal capabilities such as flexibility, resourcefulness and communication skills. In India, the vocational education sector is small; lack of employment lowers household income and blocks the crucial development of skills, which come from work experience and on-the-job training. Early workplace skill development is crucial to future earnings and growth. Early unemployment in a person’s working life increases the probability of future joblessness. Evidence has shown that early unemployment can permanently affect future employability. There is a need to address this issue which will also help some of the misled youth to get back in to the mainstream. This vicious cycle needs to be broken. It remains now to be seen how the Community Colleges will be able to responsibly bring the change that they want to see in rural Bharat.  q

Bhavana Gadre
bgadre@devalt.org
 

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