Myths about Vocational Education Bursted!
In recent times there have been several false beliefs about vocational education due to this, most people avoid vocational training like a plague. Ironically, these myths and make-believe stories are false. Vocational education is of immense value and they offer great practical benefits.
Although benefits of acquiring vocational education are unquantifiable, in the process of acquiring it, it offers some benefits which include: They are a great way to learn practical skills, earn a wage and gain a recognised qualification that can help you go further in your career. But despite the increasing popularity of vocational education, there are still many unreal reasons why many people doubt vocational education. Most of these misconceptions are:
1. ‘Vocational education is only for people who did not do well in school’
No statement is farther from the truth than this. Most people believe that vocational education is meant for people who do not go to school or people who are not academically sound. Vocational education is also a form of academic education except for the fact that it is practically based while academic education is mostly theoretical.
Apart from this, vocational education is more effective in acquiring practical knowledge than formal academic education. It is an easier and faster way of acquiring practical knowledge, gaining work experience and acquiring a professional certificate.
2. ‘Vocational education certificate are considered of lower value to university qualifications’
Vocational education certificate been of low value to university qualifications is another false misconception.
Although university degrees are very common in our contemporary world, it doesn’t make it superior to professional vocational certificates. University degrees are without practical knowledge and do not give any advantage in the job market while vocational education, on the other hand, equips you with practical knowledge and gives you an edge over other job seekers in the labour market. Apart from this, university degrees only produce job seekers while professional vocational certificate produces entrepreneurs and job providers.
3. ‘Vocational education only lead to jobs with meagre pay’
In terms of pay, most people wrongly believe that vocational education leads to jobs with minimum pay. Statistically, vocationally skilled professional earns far more than what an average educated person earns.
For instance, a professionally skilled plumber earns millions per month compared to an average banker. This is due to the shortage of vocationally skilled personnel, the few ones available are paid high amounts of money for projects that they carry out. Furthermore, a vocationally skilled professional is not necessarily tied down to a particular job or a singular source of income. He can have multiple streams of incoming and can even go on to establish his own firm where he collects contracts instead of just seating down in a place and waiting for salary at the end of the month.