A bottom-up approach to improve women’s access to technical and vocational education and training in India: Examining a non-formal education upskilling programme
Tóm tắt
The Indian Government’s 12th Five Year Plan features ambitious goals regarding the upskilling of women in India. While the Plan acknowledges Indian women’s continued inequality, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes (a main avenue for upskilling) pose considerable challenges. There is significant work to be done if India aspires to meet the 12th Plan’s goals. Moreover, to achieve them in a socially just manner, greater efforts are required to include and amplify women’s voices throughout the process. In pursuit of this aim, the authors of this research note share insights from the first stages of their study of an upskilling programme in the non-formal education sector. They argue for a bottom-up approach to understand how women wish to participate in this programme and in government-recognised TVET more broadly. To understand the women’s perspectives, the authors use the notions of third-space frameworks and “scapes”. These concepts go beyond simply acknowledging the need for labour upskilling and offer opportunities to critique gender biases, stereotypes and patriarchal practices, while formulating new ideas about how to engage as active participants in Indian society. Based on these insights, the authors offer a path forward by directly engaging with women on the ground level, using a bottom-up approach.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. Public Worlds, vol. 1. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Agrawal, T. (2013). Vocational education and training programs (VET): An Asian perspective. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 14(1), 15–26.
Bhabha, H. K. (1990). The third space: Interview with Homi Bhabha. In J. Rutherford (Ed.), Identity, community, culture, difference (pp. 207–221). London: Lawrence & Wishart.
Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The location of culture. London: Routledge.
Cooper, M. (2018). First understanding our roles to ourselves: Interview with MacDella Cooper on Women’s Empowerment. Interviewer: M.A. Witenstein. Power in Praxis [online forum], 12 November 2018 [video]. Retrieved 20 January 2020 from https://www.powerinpraxis.com/blog-1/first-understandingourroles-to-ourselves-interview-with-macdella-cooper-on-women-s-empowerment.
Higgins, C. (2015). Intersecting scapes and new millennium identities in language learning. Language Teaching, 48(3), 373–389. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444814000044.
ILO (International Labour Organization). (2018). Women and men in the informal economy: A statistical picture (3rd edn). Geneva: ILO. Retrieved 5 January 2021 from http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_626831.pdf.
Iyengar, R., & Witenstein, M. A. (2019). Amplifying Indian women’s voices and experiences to advance their access to technical and vocational education training. In C. Manion, E. Anderson, S. Baily, M. Call-Cummings, R. Iyengar, P. Shah, & M.A. Witenstein (Eds), Interrogating and innovating comparative and international education Research. (pp. 72–85). New Research – New Voices series, vol. 9. Leiden: Brill.
Mbilu, E.M. (2019). Non-formal education and quality basic education for all in Tanzania: A study of the effectiveness of non-formal education programs for children of school-going age in Korogwe District [unpublished Master’s thesis]. Oslo: University of Oslo. Retrieved 20 January 2020 from https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/73856?show=full.
Mitra, A. (2007). India: Non-formal education. Country profile prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2008. Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved 20 January 2020 from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000155560.
Oonk, G. (2000). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization (review). Journal of World History, 11(1), 157–159. https://doi.org/10.1353/jwh.2000.0021.
Pandya, R., & Maniar, A. (2014). Non formal education: An Indian context. Delhi: Ideal International E Publication.
Pilz, M., & Wilmshöfer, S. (2015). Formal, nonformal, and informal learning in rural India: The case of fishing families on the Chilika Lagoon. Prospects, 45(2), 231–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-015-9338-1.
Planning Commission. (2008). Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007–2012). Volume II: Social sector services. New Delhi: Oxford University Press India. Retrieved 5 February 2021 from http://14.139.60.153/bitstream/123456789/65/1/11th%205%20YR%20PLAN_vol2.pdf.
Planning Commission. (2013). Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012–2017). Social sectors. Vol. III. New Delhi: Sage Publications India. Retrieved 5 February 2021 from http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/sites/planipolis/files/ressources/india_12th_plan_education.pdf.
Punia, K. (2020). Future of unemployment and the informal sector of India. ORF, 12 March [online article]. Delhi: Observer Research Foundation. Retrieved 5 January 2021 from https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/future-of-unemployment-and-the-informal-sector-of-india-63190/.
Sabatier, P. A. (1986). Top-down and bottom-up approaches to implementation research: a critical analysis and suggested synthesis. Journal of public policy, 6(1), 21–48. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0143814X00003846.
UN (United Nations). (2015). Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015. A/RES/70/1. New York, NY: United Nations General Assembly. Retrieved 20 January 2020 from https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf
The Wire. (2018). Nearly 81% of the employed in India are in the informal sector: ILO. The Wire, 4 May [online article]. New Delhi: Foundation for Independent Journalism (FIJ). Retrieved 5 January 2021 from https://thewire.in/labour/nearly-81-of-the-employed-in-india-are-in-the-informal-sector-ilo.
Witenstein, M. A. (2017). Teachers’ perspectives on higher education policies. Economic & Political Weekly, 52(39), 14–16.
Witenstein, M. A., & Saito, L. E. (2015). Exploring the educational implications of the Third Space framework for transnational Asian adoptees. Berkeley Review of Education, 5(2), 117–136. https://doi.org/10.5070/B85110051.
Yum, S. (2014). Sidelining literacy: A comparative study on the UNESCO LIFE (Literacy Initiative for Empowerment) [unpublished Master’s thesis]. Seoul: Seoul National University, Graduate School of International Studies. Retrieved 20 January 2020 from https://s-space.snu.ac.kr/bitstream/10371/126216/1/000000021039.pdf.