Vocational School and Vocational Education
Vocational school is an institution that provides vocational education to individuals who desire to be trained in job-specific skills. This type of educational institution is also called a trade school. It is considered to be an institution devoted to training rather than on education. In recent years however, vocational schools have included educational instruction on its programs with competitively high standards.
Vocational education is a training institution that provides non-academic programs. The programs offered by vocational schools are meant for individuals who want to make a career in a specific trade, technology or agriculture. Thus, there are vocational schools that have programs for tourism, retail, traditional crafts, cottage industries and cosmetics.
Vocational education is sometimes referred to as technical education. Individuals can find in vocational schools technology programs which are designed to help learners develop expertise in a particular type of technology. Industrial technology and recently information technology are among the programs that can be offered by a vocational school.
Moreover, individuals can also learn technical skills such as welding, mechanical repairs and installation and blacksmithing in a vocational school. Some vocational schools also have classes in baking, cooking, tailoring and craft-making.
Vocational education is considered a traditional apprenticeship learning system. This form of education before focused on specific fields or trades such as for instance, a welder or an automotive technician or mechanic. Because of its association with certain occupations which were mostly blue-collar, vocational activities or occupation were considered to be for lower social class individuals.
In recent years however, the demand for specialized skills in businesses and in other industries has helped create a more positive approach on vocational education. Some governments and private enterprises have been making investments for the creation of vocational schools or programs which could be publicly-funded training organizations or subsidized apprenticeships. Vocational schools found nowadays are either government-funded institutions or for-profit organizations.
The system of vocational education in vocational schools may vary in every country. A vocational school is considered a secondary in Finland and Ireland. In the United States, it is considered as post-secondary school. The nature of organization of a vocational school may differ in a territory or country.
Vocational education can be found in the educational programs in community college or institute of technologies. In some countries, this kind of education can also be found in institutions that offer university degrees, four-year courses and/or liberal arts degrees. In India, vocational training can be found in the programs of many universities as part-time programs. The South Asian country is regarded as a pioneer in vocational training in Information Technology and Film and Television.
