{"id":98551,"date":"2020-02-02T21:09:18","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T03:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=98551"},"modified":"2020-02-02T13:41:29","modified_gmt":"2020-02-02T20:41:29","slug":"demystifying-university-colleges-as-a-modality-of-technical-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/02\/02\/demystifying-university-colleges-as-a-modality-of-technical-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Demystifying University Colleges as a Modality of Technical Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prof. Chandana Jayalath<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

As a matter of way out of the subdued\neconomic growth, the Sri Lankan government recognizes the need to increase the\nemployability rates of the youth. To that end, the ministries in the subject of\nskills development, vocational training and youth affairs have been tasked with\nproviding technical and vocational training to prepare youth for careers in a\nwide range of occupational fields. A well-known fact is that Sri Lanka\u2019s\nuniversity admission process is highly competitive where the students are\nranked and admitted in accordance with a standardized scoring system based on\ntheir A-Level examination results. In 2018, about 60 percent of students passed\nthe GCE A-Level examinations. Of this group, only about 17 percent were\nadmitted into a university-level institution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at the technical and\nvocational education sector, abbreviated TVET sector, the allied education\nprograms range from short-term certificate programs and apprenticeship training\nto bachelor\u2019s degrees in \u2018applied’ disciplines. In 2009, Sri Lanka established\na National Vocational Qualifications Framework (NVQF). National Certificates\n(NVQF 1 to 4 entry-level programs typically have a strong practical focus concentrating\nin crafts and trade fields). National Diplomas (levels 5 and 6) entail one and\ntwo-year programs typically offered in technical fields and trades. Admission\nis typically based on O-levels or a NVQF level 3 or 4 certificate. The program\nlength is clearly defined at 60 credits (one year) at level 5 and 120 credits\n(2 years) at level 6. The level 7 Bachelor\u2019s degrees are basically the\nVocational Bachelor of Technology degrees (3 years, 180 credits). The programs\nare designed to be entered on the basis of NVQF level 5, while holders of level\n6 may be granted the first two semester exemptions. However, the entering\nschemes for a NVQ 5 and 6 are many. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Technical Education\nand Training (DTET) oversees 38 technical colleges offering various certificate\nand diploma programs in trades and crafts, such as automotive technology.\nStudents over the age of 17, who have passed their O-level examinations, are\neligible for enrollment, though many courses have an age limit of 29. The\nTertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) accredit a number of technical\nand vocational institutions. The Vocational Training Authority (VTA) comprises\n224 rural vocational training centers, 22 district centers, and 7 national\ntraining centers. VTA was established in 1995 with the aim to provide TVET in\nrural parts of the country. The National Apprentice and Industrial Training\nAuthority (NAITA) offers around 150 apprenticeship training courses in 22\nvocational fields across 25 district offices and 4 institutes. Apprentices\nwhile training at a work place may have the opportunity to sit for national\ntrade tests in a number of occupations. Trainees may also apply to obtain NVQF\ncertificate-level qualifications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amidst this backdrop, the University\nof Vocational Technology (Univotec) was established via the Parliament Act No\n31 of 2008 with the functions under then the purview of the Ministry of Youth\nAffairs and Skills Development. Subsequently, the university colleges came into\nbeing in a gazette notification in the year 2014 under the foregoing Act. It\nmust be clear that although the university colleges are given power to admit\nstudents, conduct tertiary education, hold examinations, and determine with the\napproval of the Univotec the degree, diplomas, certificates, and any other\nacademic distinctions to be awarded, they do not have full or independent\nuniversity status though it is often part of a larger university. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quite a few international examples\nwould ease out the misnomer. The Latrobe University College of Northern Victoria\nis one such famous college that provides academic support such as tutorials. University\nCollege, Melbourne, formerly University Women’s College, is one such\nresidential college affiliated with the University of Melbourne. In Belgium,\nthe term University College is used to refer to state-funded institutions of\nhigher education belonging to one of the three Communities of Belgium, that are\nspecifically not universities. They can issue academic or non-academic\nBachelor’s degrees or academic Master’s degrees, and they are performing\npractice oriented and artistic research. Even if they are at the same level,\nacademic degrees issued from University colleges are different from University\ndegrees. In Canada, the case is multi-dimensional. Their “University\nCollege” has three meanings: a degree-granting institution; an institution\nthat offers university-level coursework; or a constituent organization\n(college) of a university, such as University College at University of Toronto\nor University College Residences at Laurentian University. Some Canadian\nuniversity colleges are public institutions, some are private; some are\nregulated by government agencies, others are not. In Ireland, the Queen’s\nUniversity Belfast initially had no university colleges and the first university\ncollege was created in 1985 (St Mary’s) and second in 1999 (Stranmillis), these\ntwo institutions previously were associated with the university, offering its\ndegrees since 1968. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term “University\nCollege” in Malaysia denotes institutions that are granted the authority\nto issue degrees in their own names within specialized fields and disciplines.\nNearly all New Zealand universities were originally described as\n“University Colleges”, and were constituent parts of a Federal body,\nthe University of New Zealand. All of these are now fully independent; for\nexample, the former Canterbury University College is now the University of\nCanterbury. There is a specific university hall of residence named\n“University College” at the Otago University. In most cases students\nat university colleges took the external exams of the University of London, but\nthe colleges of the University of Wales and the Victoria University took\ndegrees of those institutes while the university colleges in Newcastle and\nDundee were associated with the universities of Durham and St Andrews\nrespectively. Not all of these university colleges used “University\nCollege” in their name. With the exception of colleges in London that\nremain part of the University of London, all have gone on to become independent\ncivic universities. Examples include the University of Nottingham (which was\nUniversity College Nottingham when D. H. Lawrence attended), the University of\nSouthampton which was associated with the University of London until 1952, and\nthe University of Exeter, which until 1955 was the University College of the\nSouth West of England; Keele University was founded in 1949 as the University\nCollege of North Staffordshire until it was granted its royal charter in 1962\nand transformed into a university. This was the recognized route for\nestablishing new universities in the United Kingdom during the first half of\nthe 20th century, prior to the founding of the plate glass universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is clear that the ability to offer\ndegrees wholly depends upon how precise it has been worded out in the law. As\n“University College” is obviously less prominent title than\n“university”, institutes that meet the (stricter) criteria for\nuniversity title normally apply for the latter. Historically, the term\nuniversity college was used to denote colleges (as opposed to universities)\nthat delivered university-level teaching. Unlike in the modern usage of the\nterm, did not hold their own degree awarding powers. Instead, they were\nassociated with universities, thus forming a larger institutional unit while\nbeing physically independent. An inference is that it becomes even more\ndifficult with the term university college, which is being used in quite a few\ncountries across the globe, ranging from Australia, Canada and Denmark, to the Netherlands,\nNorway, UK, the US, and many other countries. Very often it does not refer to\nthe same type of institution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving aside the question of\nautonomy for the time being, the demands leveled by the students learning at\nthe existing university colleges must be looked at from a holistic perspective.\nIt must be left to the academics and university administrators to decide upon\nand come up with a strategic plan of action. Such an action plan must indeed be\ncomprehensive and sustainable as it should not in any way impair the efficacy\nand equity associated with the overall delivery of technical education and\ntraining. Simply put, the efficacy and equity must be revisited in terms of\nadmission criteria, hierarchy of delivery of modules and their curriculums,\norder of cognitive skills, national competency standards, effective utilization\nof resources, and most significantly, the potential vocational niches that are\nmarketable in cross frontiers. It is no harm of elevating the colleges as\ndegree awarding institutions, not just sake of producing a graduate on a demand\nbut a true graduate with a spirit of optimism and genuine\ngraciousness, which essentially warrants a carefully thought-out process, in\nspite of the name it may claim at the end of the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the country\u2019s prosperity\ndepends on how many of its people are in work and how productive they are,\nwhich in turn rests on the skills they have and how effectively those skills\nare used. Skills are a foundation of decent work. The cornerstones of a policy\nframework for developing a suitably skilled workforce are: broad availability\nof good-quality education as a foundation for future training; a close matching\nof skills supply to the needs of enterprises and labour markets; enabling\nworkers and enterprises to adjust to changes in technology and markets; and\nanticipating and preparing for the skills needs of the future. When applied\nsuccessfully, this approach nurtures a virtuous circle in which more and better\neducation and training fuels innovation, investment, economic diversification\nand competitiveness, as well as social and occupational mobility \u2013 and thus the\ncreation of more but also more productive and more rewarding jobs. Good-quality\nprimary and secondary education, complemented by relevant vocational training\nand skills development opportunities, prepare future generations for their\nproductive lives, endowing them with the core skills that enable them to\ncontinue learning. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prof. Chandana Jayalath As a matter of way out of the subdued economic growth, the Sri Lankan government recognizes the need to increase the employability rates of the youth. To that end, the ministries in the subject of skills development, vocational training and youth affairs have been tasked with providing technical and vocational training to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133,12,158],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-forum","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98551\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}