Vocational Education Courses - To Take or Not To Take?

This is a basic definition of vocational training or education. So what can we understand from this?

There are various types and purposes of education. And there is a common purpose. And that common purpose is job and earning. All vocational training are specifically directed to immediate job or professional career. 

Thus when a student wants to train in some occupational skill or training, which will immediately place him or her in the position of earning by doing job or business or doing as a practicing profession, then he or she has to take up vocational training in a suitable vocational training institute.

This is what we have to understand about any vocational education in the first place. Though this definition includes the purpose of vocational training, still knowing a bit more on it will be beneficial for the students and also the parents or guardians.

Students will need vocational education to get established in some profession, either in the mode of business or job. 

Everyone needs a path of earning. Already the earning resources are fast dwindling whereas earning requirements are increasing. Before only one earning member per family used to be there and even the family used to be large still that worked. Today even a small family of 2 or 3 cannot be run by the income of one person.

So today everyone needs to earn his or her bread and butter. And that is also becoming challenging day by day. Today there are plenty of workers whose income is not even sufficient to run his or her own living. Hence there is arising a lot of economic stress and strain on both the individual level as well as social level. 

In this scenario, students are often worried about their job or profession right from the days of their studies. And that is shaping their education and career to a very significant as well as worrying level. 

Vocational training comes with a promise of relief to many. Still now there remains a good amount of requirements for some skilled people in some specific areas of applications. And exactly this is where vocational training or education is getting relevant and effective. 

Vocational training prepares a student ready for a particular skilled job. And thus he can get some earning out of it. 

For example, an automobile mechanic is specifically trained on skills to repair automobiles and their different parts. There are plenty of automobiles and numbers are increasing. So it can be supposed that the skilled mechanic will find his way to earning either by job or by opening a small business. 

Another example can be the mobile phone and computer (or laptop) technicians. Users of smartphones and computers are increasing and thus the skill to repair these gadgets can become a good profession. 

Vocational education builds up on the different requirements of skills in the different sectors. For example once there were no CT Scans or MRI Scans in the medical world. Then there were no requirements for such skills. 

But today these machines exist and a lot of people need these scans for their medical issues. Many scan centers have opened and there are requirements of many skilled medical technicians who will be able to operate the scan machines. Hence a vocational training course on this subject came into existence and many students are joining the vocational training centers to learn and acquire these skills. 

Vocational education usually builds up on any one particular area of skill application and trains students on that skill for the purpose of earning. 

Academic education has a much wider perspective. It also makes a student ready for earning in some area of expertise, which essentially includes one or more than one skillsets. 

But the purpose of an academic education does not end in just skill applications and earning. It has a wider purpose to educate the student deeper into the relevant area of skill application and also in many other relevant areas which can contribute in the intellectual and knowledge abilities.

Thus academic education is not limited to development of a certain skill but also contributes to knowledge and cognitive development. And exactly at this point it largely differs from any vocational training course. 

For example, above we have seen radiology technicians learn to operate scan machines as a vocational training skill. Full scale doctors also learn radiology and scan machine operations but they learn even more than that. They develop medical knowledge within themselves and not just a skill or two. 

Hence a medical degree is essentially an academic degree and not vocational. A doctor even learns to innovate and contribute in the area of Medical Science knowledge. Innovation and contribution does not fall under the assumed application of vocational skills.

In the curriculum program there are also many differences between a vocational degree and an academic degree. 

Vocational degrees are usually short terms of not more than one or two years. They usually end up with some certifications or diploma degrees. They have more practical training and theoretical development of the concerned subject. 

Academic degrees are more vast and elaborate. They have full scale practical training as well as elaborated theoretical training. Hence they can take much more time. They are usually more than 3 years and the total education period can continue to 5 years or even much more than that.

Academic degree programs usually have at least a bachelor’s degree and often scale up to masters and beyond. 

Both have their own pros and cons. First let me say something about the benefits of vocational education. 

Any vocational education is a fast track training and can put the student into a profession faster than any academic education. It directly targets a particular skill application area. Hence the connection between the employee and employer is established in a quicker and easier way (if the skill is already in market demand).  

Academic education has its own advantages. They are deeper in the subject. Prepare greater expertise and often innovative conception within its students. They usually incorporate a wider domain of knowledge and applications thus can prepare a student in multiple skills and areas of applications. 

But one big disadvantage with academic education is that they are far more time taking than any vocational education. Also they can be usually far more costly than any vocational education. The huge time duration required can also increase the living and studying cost of the student. 

Comparatively vocational education is faster and cheaper. And also the return on investment is faster and usually more guaranteed. Academic education in some areas can provide guaranteed earning and in many other areas it may not. 

But academic education is usually more long lasting in the scale of time and extinction. Every vocational education becomes extinct after a duration. They never offer any long term commitment. But academic education is usually a lifetime commitment. They never get totally extinct. Rather they evolve with respect to the time scale. 

Thus vocational education has its own advantages and disadvantages. The advantages often score higher than disadvantages in the current context of poverty and job scarcity. 

The best options can be like if a student can pursue one academic education and at least one more vocational education in parallel. Then nothing can be better than that. But often the total expenditure is prohibitive. 

This article may help a student to make a little wiser decision but ultimately he is the best person to evaluate what will be better for him……an academic education or a vocation education.