The dictionary meaning of the word training is educating or preparing for a future role or a function. With change being the only constant in an ever changing world, training is the only option left to keep updating the self.
Training takes many dimensions, from self grooming , public speaking, learning corporate nitty gritty to updating the self with latest discoveries and innovations in one’s chosen field of working .For a college student , training may mean acquiring employability skills while for a CEO of a multinational company it may mean how to increase internal economies or how to reduce the cost per unit production but there is no denying the fact that training remains the most sought after session and the least expensive way in comparisons to other means of updating the self or the organisation. To a working professional or to a student, it is an excellent opportunity available to stay updated.
Training involves improving the effectiveness of individuals and teams and thus enhancing the effectiveness of organisations. Training is organised instruction aimed to bring the long term progress of an individual as well as of the organisations. It is truly said that the illiterates of 21st century are the people who are not ready to “Learn, Unlearn and Relearn”. Training occupies a significant place in this domain of relearning.
“Working in the field of Education for a long time as the Head of a CBSE Senior Secondary School, I often need to conduct interviews for various posts of teachers. This exercise over the years had been revealing an unhappy reality to me. The candidates who come for the interviews and are otherwise qualified also in terms of their degrees, most of them lack the basic life skills, like Communication Skill (no doubt they know their subject but lack how to effectively articulate the same), Critical Thinking, Problem Solving Approach and the most importantly People Skills which is supposed to make them effectively employable. Almost 100% of them exhibit poor Emotional Skills also. Spiritual Quotient is again zero.
In such a scenario, we at school have to intensively train them in these basic skills. Regular orientations, capacity building training sessions and people management skills training over the years equip these young people to become effective teachers.
I often wonder as to what is being done in our colleges!! The graduation level at which our youth must be exposed to real life skills, must be prepared to face the world outside on their own is actually imparting no such skill except of course a few institutions being the exception.
I believe a good part of curriculum at undergraduate level must comprise of such life skills, intra personal, interpersonal, social and emotional so that the youth can be evolved into efficient and effective human resource. However, as long as we don’t have such capacity building components on the curriculum in a very planned and organised manner with proper execution and evaluation of the same before awarding degrees to the students, we have hope in these trainers (Individuals or Institutes) who have identified the need for the same and are trying their best to fulfil the gap through various training programmes.”