India - Employment and Unemployment, July 2011- June 2012, NSS 68th Round

Vocational Training: A vocational training may broadly be defined as a training, which prepares an individual for a specific vocation or occupation. The main objective of vocational education and training is to prepare persons, especially the youth, for the world of work and make them employable for a broad range of occupations in various industries and other economic sectors. It aims at imparting training to persons in very specific fields through providing significant 'hands on' experience in acquiring necessary skill, which will make them employable or create for them opportunities of self-employment. Thus, the essential feature of the vocational training is that it lays more emphasis on development of skill in a specific vocation or trade rather than building knowledge. Mere possession of a skill, which neither creates opportunities for self-employment nor makes a person employable, will not be considered as having vocational training.
Formal Vocational Training: The vocational training that takes place in education and training institutions which follow a structured training programme and lead to recognised certificates, diplomas or degrees, will be treated as formal one. But when the vocational training neither follows a structured programme nor the training lead to recognised certificates, diplomas or degrees, those training programmes will be treated as non-formal vocational training. For the purpose of survey, formal vocational training will have the following characteristics:
i) structured training programme towards a particular skill,
ii) certificate/diploma/degree received should have a recognition by
State/Central Government, Public Sector and other reputed concerns,
By structured training programme, it is meant that:
(a) the training programme should have a definite title with prescribed syllabus and curriculum and a specified duration of the training, and
(b) the training should have some entry level eligibility in terms of education and age.

Non-formal Vocational Training:

(a) Hereditary: The expertise in a vocation or trade is sometimes acquired by the succeeding generations from the other members of the households, generally the ancestors, through gradual exposures to such works as are involved in carrying out the profession by their ancestors. The expertise gained through significant 'hands-on' experience enables the individual to take up activities in self-employment capacity or makes him employable. Acquiring such marketable expertise by one, which enables him/her to carry out the trade or occupation of their ancestors over generations, may also be considered, for the purpose of survey, to have received 'non-formal' vocational training and that through 'hereditary' sources.

(b) Self-learning: The expertise in a vocation or trade when acquired by a person through his/her own effort, without any training under any person or organisation, may be considered to have acquired the non-formal vocational training through 'self-learning'. For example, a person who has learnt photography on his own effort will be considered to have acquired the non-formal vocational training through 'self-learning'.

(c) Learning on the job: The expertise acquired by a person while in employment (current and/or past), either through informal training by the employer or organisation or through the exposure to the type of job that he/she is/was performing, may be considered to have acquired the non-formal vocational training through 'learning on the job'. Note that if a person is provided with formal training in a vocation or trade even by the employer or organisation, while in employment, he will be considered to have received 'formal' vocational training.

(d) Other: The 'other' sources may also include the cases where the expertise for a vocation or trade has been developed even from the household members or ancestors, provided the said vocation or trade is different from the one relating to their ancestors. Thus a person may learn tailoring work from a master tailor or a person may learn book-binding work from a printing press. All such expertise will be considered to have received non-formal vocational training through 'other' sources.

Particulars of vocational training will be used to record particulars of vocational training received/ being received by persons of age 15 to 59 years.

Information on whether the household member is receiving or has received any vocational training will be collected in codes given below:
yes: receiving formal vocational training -1;
received vocational training: formal -2,
non-formal: hereditary-3,
self-leanring-4,
learning on the job-5,
others -6;
did not receive any vocational training -7.

Only those who are currently receiving 'formal vocational training' will be given code 1 and if the vocational training, which is formal, has already been received, i.e., if the training course is successfully completed, then code will be 2. Codes 3 to 6 relate to non-formal vocational training. Code 3 will be applicable for those who have received 'hereditary' non-formal vocational trainings and code 4 for those who have received non-formal vocational trainings though 'self-learning'. Persons who have received non-formal vocational training through 'learning on the job' will be given code 5. All other cases of non-formal vocational training received will be assigned code 6. Persons who have failed in formal vocational training after completion of the full duration of the course will also be given code 6 provided they have acquired competency through this training to employ themselves as wage salary employee or self-employed. Note that if one has already received some vocational training, formal or informal, and also currently receiving some formal vocational training, then the vocational training already received will be recorded for him/her. In case, he/she has received more than one vocational training, then the one among the applicable codes that appears first will be recorded.