QualIndia Final Conference in Delhi: Quality in VET
On 6th and 7th February 2023, the QualIndia final conference took place in Delhi. Over two days, more than 40 stakeholders from academia, government and business came together to reflect on the QualIndia quality approach and discuss current trends in quality management in vocational education and training in India. The interactive conference format in a mix of presentations and expert workshops enabled intensive exchange and fruitful work results. Thematic input related to the quality approach was provided in presentations by the project partners Dr. Uma Gengaiah, Prof. Dr. Mona Khare, Prof. Dr. Kothandaraman Kumar and Prof. Dr. Santosh Mehrotra. These covered topics relevant to quality development and included in the approach, ranging from the role of the private sector to aspects of inclusion and equity in VET.
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Final Conference "Research on the Internationalisation of Vocational Education and Training"
The final conference of the BMBF funding line "Research on Internationalisation of Vocational Education and Training" was held on 14 October 2022 in a digital format. Eleven projects presented the highlights of their project activities and gave the opportunity to ask questions to conference guests in various discussion groups. In addition to the QualIndia project, the Chair of Business and Economics Education at the University of Cologne was represented by two other projects, DualReg and CodeVET.
Successful Completion of the Field Research
In August 2022, the project staff successfully completed the field research activities as part of the main study. The team of Dr. Ramasamy and Julia Regel conducted interviews and group discussions in 30 VET institutions in Delhi and Bangalore. As such, the QualIndia quality approach was intensively evaluated with school directors, teachers and administrative staff in order to realise a participatory revision as part of the development of the quality model with the target group on site.
Project Extension
The QualIndia research project has been extended until April, 2023. This allows the project team to compensate for pandemic-related delays in the field research and to conduct a joint comprehensive evaluation of the approach in India. In this context we would like to thank the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Aerospace Center for their support.
Delhi: Meetings with Stakeholders of Indian Vocational Education and Training
The QualIndia research team of the University of Cologne traveled to Delhi from 29.11.-03.12.2021 to prepare the upcoming main study and to inform and involve relevant stakeholders of Indian vocational education and training. The German consulate in Delhi supported the stay under currently still difficult conditions organizationally and with content expertise. Thus, not only the comprehensive support of the national as well as local authorities could be gained, but also many opportunities for fruitful exchange with regard to current vocational training topics were found. In addition, after a long period in which only virtual meetings were possible, a personal meeting with the Indian project partners and the guest students could finally be realized. Particularly valuable for the development process of the quality approach was the feedback from the different stakeholders regarding the model content and possible needs in the VET institutions. These included the Director of International Relations of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), the Director of the Directorate General of Training (DGT), the Vice Chancellor of the Delhi Skill Development and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU), the Chairman of the National Council of Vocational Education and Training (NCVET), and the Vice Chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
AVETRA Annual Conference 2021
The QualIndia team was represented at the AVETRA Annual Conference in April 2021 with its own contribution to the development of quality indicators for Indian VET. The annual conference of the Australasian VET Research Association is an important platform for a wide range of stakeholders from VET research and practice worldwide, and keynote speakers were invited from Oxford University (UK), University College London (UK), CEDEFOP (EU) and Victoria University (AUS). Conference papers covered VET practice as well as science in diverse and highly topical areas. This year's conference had a special focus on the role of VET in addressing serious challenges caused by e.g. pandemics or wars, equity and diversity, and the function of VET in the context of society and economy. The presentation of the research team was able to pick up on this in different areas and contribute to the conference content with a fruitful discussion and lively follow-up questions.
Start of the Field Studies in Bangalore
Despite some challenges caused in the presence of the pandemic, the project team could eventually start the actual field research in February 2021 in Bangalore. There, Dr. Muthu Ramasamy evaluates the first version of the model for quality measurement in two Polytechnic Colleges and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) each. Under participation of school management, teachers and staff, quality criteria, indicators and respective quality measuring instruments are tested. Subsequently, these will be revised based on the results obtained in the pretest, before the field research will continue in a next phase in Delhi and Bangalore. At this point, our thanks are due to the Indian authorities, who have given the University of Cologne the official permission to work under these difficult conditions, as well as to the dedicated staff in the local VET institutions. The project team is looking forward to an exciting and fruitful field research phase!
Qualindia: New publication on the role of research in international VET projects
The QualIndia project is represented with its own contribution within the current series of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research "Vocational Education and Training International: The Role of Research in International VET Projects". Matthias Pilz and his co-authors address the challenges and opportunities of cooperation in international research partnerships. Using the concrete example of the development of an approach to quality measurement in Indian VET institutions, they show how cooperation in international teams leads to the generation of new and fruitful research and development results. The publication can be found below: