Advantages of Technical Education Essay

It is enamour for me to seize this opportunity to speak a play off of words on the take to dramatize proficient tuition in the country. In Sri Lanka, skillful command began in the 1890s with the establishment of the Colombo expert College, which, as Government Department, functioned to cater to sealed requirements of much(prenominal) Government Departments as commonplace Works, Railways and Irrigation. Technical Education, beca purpose of this limited focus, did not expand in the colonial period it was later on incountence an attempt was made to lay out engineering courses.With the establishment of the University of Ceylon, an Engineering spot course was started. In the sixties, a mesh of Technical Colleges came into existence but they taught hardly trade and craft courses. What the country unavoidable was an prove which could cargoner to the center of attention direct contains in the ho manipulation of skilful k straightawayledge. Such halfway level techn ological k immediately-how was necessary for the country to undertake phylogeny effort was expanding and new development corporations came into being, and such institutions, in addition to engineers, wanted middle level technical expertise.The ExpansionSince on that point was no organization to produce such men, the Government of the day wanted us to examine the possibility of setting up a scientific set up which is suitable of producing middle level technicians in areas pertinent to development. Ampara Hardy Institute, German Technical Institute and the HNDE courses have dispirit popular, and they produced employable technicians who effect mesh. It was in this background that we established the Sri Lanka Institute of ripe Technological Education (SLIATE) which is now emerging as a nubble of excellence in the area of Technological Studies in the country, and its provincial centres have blend rendive centres of learning.All educatees, who pass the good Level examina tion substructurenot enter the Universities, and they have to be given opportunities in the field of high education. This Institute has 18 branches passim the country which could fork over educational opportunities to a large group of students today this multifariousness of qualification could be easily marketed in a highly competitive humans and the middle level technician is as alpha as a qualified engineer.The Government, base on the Mahinda Chintana strategy on higher(prenominal)(prenominal) education, proposes to develop the SLIATE into a centre of excellence, and we are receiving substantial foreign assistance for the rise of the Institute. In my view, Sri Lankan higher education institutions hire up foreign assistance and partnerships to lose the ball-shaped competition in the Higher Education market. Today the world has become globalized, and in such a context, whatever changes we make, we desire to look from the point of view of global considerations.The mul tiple demands of stinting and social development, especially in the context of Sri Lanka, postulate assorted tertiary institutions, and the SLIATE, with its ne dickensrk of colleges specializing in technical subjects, can provide the State with middle level technically trained somebodynel. The precise existence of the SLIATE shows that the country conducts an education remains with increased differentiation in other words, the development of non-university institutions alike higher technological colleges can help meet the growing social demand for higher education.Those students, who fail to find places within the established University system, need to be provided with opportunities in the technical education sector, and it is through such diversification of higher educational institutions that access to tertiary education can be meliorate today nearly 210,000 students sit the Advanced Level examination, out of which nearly 120,000 students nail down to enter the Universi ties but the annual using up to Universities is layricted to less than 20,000. This is a study problem in the system, and this question has to be immediately addressed. The Government has adopted two strategies one is to get a goodish section into the Technical education sector, and the rest has been given an opportunity to make use of the Distance Mode.I would like to link to the expansion of the Open University and the effective use of the external degrees formula. It is through enrolment in non-university institutions that the problems relating to access could be solved. For instance, in eastbound Asia, the average annual growth of University enrollment was 11 percent between 1975 and 1980 and 6 percent between 1980-1988, as compared with 24 and 10 percent for non-University institutions in the very(prenominal) period. Several types of non-University institutions, similar to the SLIATE, have evolved in various countries to expand higher educational opportunities for those who aspire to get into the system. For moral, Poly- Technics, Professional and Technical Institutes, Community Colleges and Institutions offering Distance Education. direct for DiversificationIn the Sri Lankan context, we cannot totally depend on the traditional system of University education. It has served a good purpose, and it is still serving a purpose in my view, the immediate need is to diversify the tertiary education system with an emphasis on technical and vocational education. In terms of cost, they are downhearted cost programmes and the country can spend such a network of colleges which could provide them with a qualification and training, with which a person can find employment.The emphasis on scholastic education, which began with the establishment of the University College in 1921, needs to be transformed, and the late men and women, who now seek a qualification to get employment, should be encouraged to get a Technical qualification from an Institute like the SL IATE. It is the policy of the Government is to develop the SLIATE into a centre of excellence, it is not a upright Technical College, it is a special agreeable of Technological Institute, the products of which can make a vital contribution to the lick of economic and social development.Technical education, like University education, should become an integral aspect of the development process in the country. Only an Institute of this nature, with vary products of highly masterly labour, which can resolve to labour market demands in a country. The reason is that such an Institute can operate multi-disciplinary programmes in various technical fields and the SLIATE is doing exactly that.What needs to be done is to produce all types of skilled labour which a market frugality needs in other words, what the industry needs has to be produced. In Singapore, the employment prospects for graduates of Polytechnics are so good that numerous talented students seek entry into the vocationa lly-oriented Polytechnics or else than regular academic programme conducted by the Universities. In my view, the development of the SLIATE is certain to fashion a similar intellectual finishing in the country.Let me make use of this opportunity to speak a couple of words on the role of the teacher. I was a University teacher for more than xxx years. I want all these young men and women to be good teachers, consecrated to the function of teaching. One has to be a dedicated teacher who set an example to the student federation you must be able to command respect among the student community, for which you need an intellectual personality.You need to be an intellectual-cum-teacher and then only you can attract the attention of the student community. Above all, you need to be a man of character. In the final analysis, you are members of the intellectual community of this country, and it is the intellectual community, for that matter in some(prenominal) country, which provides the le adership for the transformation of a society.