The role of education in facilitating social and economic progress has long been recognized. Education improves functional and analytical ability and thereby opens up opportunities for individuals and also groups to achieve greater access to labour markets and livelihoods. A better educated labour force is essential if we are to meet the labour supply requirements of faster growth. Education is not only an instrument of enhancing efficiency but is also an effective tool of widening and augmenting democratic participation and upgrading the overall quality of individual and societal life.

India has one of the largest technical manpower in the world. However, In India, the emphasis has been on general education, with vocational education at the receiving end. This has resulted in large number of educated people remaining unemployed. This phenomenon has now been recognized by the planners and hence there is a greater thrust on vocationalization of education. Under XIth Plan, vocationalization of education has received has received a boost with more funds being allocated for the purposes. Besides, it is also being ensured that the marginalized sections of the society, including women, get adequate representations in these courses.

Skills and knowledge are the engines of economic growth and social development of any country. Urban areas with higher and better levels of knowledge and skills respond more effectively and promptly to challenges and opportunities of globalization. India is in transition to a knowledge based economy and its competitive edge will be determined by the abilities of its people to create, share and use knowledge more effectively. This transition will require India to develop workers into knowledge workers who will be more flexible, analytical, and adaptable and multi skilled. In the new knowledge economy the skill sets will include professional, managerial, operational, behavioural, inter personal and inter functional skills.

To achieve these goals, India needs flexible education and training system that will provide the foundation for learning, secondary and tertiary education and to develop required competencies as means of achieving lifelong learning. As education is the means for bringing socio- economic transformation in a society, various measures are being taken to enhance the access of education to the marginalized sections of the society. [1]

THE CONCEPT OF EDUCATION:

The moment we think of education, firstly comes to our mind is the formal elementary, primary and higher education. No doubt these are the universally accepted facts which are immensely used by all the societies of the world. These types of education generally entail a longer gestation period for achievement. However when we try to go deep in understanding the concept of education, as propounded by great thinkers it specifically means :

"By education, I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in the Child and man body, mind and spirit." Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi.[2]

The very concept of ‘all round drawing’ indicates the availability of various avenues in gaining knowledge (Education) but very few avenues are tapped. There lies a strong potential for optimal utilization of various avenues in gaining education for overall growth and development in a shorter gestations.

A close look at the Indian Rural Education System, over the decades sincere attempts are mainly aimed towards imparting formal education. A dismal picture appears in the rural education side, where the backwardness still lingers strong relatively to that of the urban set up.

Time and tide wait for none. The doors of the economy are wide open for globalization, where its benefits had already started sprinkling with the flow bias towards urban areas but a simple trickles are towards rural areas. This makes us to believe that theses realizations are mainly due to the significant levels of formal education existing in the urban set ups.

No doubt, the proposition is true but not complete. Coming to our rural education system which is backsliding in terms of formal education, no doubt cannot be an active participant and a recipient of the of the benefits of globalization but if geared up, surely it can also succeed in this venture since their potential to learning is strong.

FOCUS OF THE STUDY:

This conceptual paper tries to focus on bringing a metamorphical change in the rural education system by going for adaptations of other education systems apart from formal education which entails a longer gestation period for its fulfillment. The focus mainly being making non-formal, informal and vocational education system which are viably adoptable to the rural education system. The depiction of the model shows the present scenario of the flow of globalization benefits highly biased towards the rural segment. Further , indications remain the potential for bringing change to effect the above mentioned educational systems to draw the rural masses towards the main streams of globalization .

REVIEW OF MEANING AND CONCEPTS:

Meaning:

Education is the process of bringing desirable change into the behavior of human beings. It can also be defined as the “Process of imparting or acquiring knowledge or habits through instruction

Or study”. The behavioral changes must be directed towards a desirable end. They should be acceptable socially, culturally and comically and result in a change in knowledge, skill, attitude and understanding. [3]

Concepts of Education:

"The widest road leading to the solution of all our problems is education." Tagore

"Education which will offer the tools whereby one can live for the divine, for the country, for oneself and for others and this must be the ideal of every school which calls itself national" Sri Aurobindo.

"Education means the bringing out of the ideas of universal validity which are latent in the mind of every man". Socrates

"Education is the capacity to feel pleasure and pain at the right moment. It develops in the body and in the soul of the pupil all the beauty and all the perfection which he is capable of." Plato

"Education is the creation of a sound mind in a sound body. It develops man's faculty, especially his mind so that he may be able to enjoy the contemplation of supreme truth, goodness and beauty of which perfect happiness essentially consists. Aristotle

"Education of man commences at his birth; before he can speak, before he can understand he is already instructed. Experience is the forerunner of the perfect". Rousseau

"Education is complete living". Herbert Spencer

"Education is natural harmonious and progressive development of man's innate powers". Heinrich Pestalozzi

"Education is unfoldment of what is already enfolded in the germ. It is the process through which the child makes internal external". Friedrich William Froebel [4]

TYPES OF EDUCATION:

Formal Education:

It is a System of schooling involving institutionalized teaching and learning in relation to a curriculum, which itself is established according to a predetermined purpose of the schools in the system. School systems are sometimes also based on religions, giving them different curricula. It is: An Institutional activity, Chronologically graded hierarchically structured, Uniform, Subject oriented, Full time, Leads to certificates, diplomas, degrees, etc

Non Formal Education:

Non formal education is sometimes called adult basic education, adult literacy education or school equivalency preparation. In non formal education an adult (or a youth who is not in school) can learn literacy, other basic skills or job skills. Non formal education can be in small classes or through self study. It is : Flexible , Life environment and learner oriented, Diversified in content and method, Non-authoritarian, Built on learner participation, It mobilizes local resources, It enriches human and environmental a potential, E.g. Agricultural Extension.

Informal Education is:

There is also informal education. For example, a parent teaches a child how to prepare a meal. Someone can also get an informal education by reading many books from a library. Informal education is when you are not studying in a school and do not use another particular learning method. It is: A Life long process, Individual learns from daily experiences, Individual learns from exposure to the environment at home, at work, at play etc. [5]

Vocational education (education based on occupation or employment), also known as career and technical education (CTE) or technical and vocational education and training (TVET)

The education that prepares people for specific trades, crafts and careers at various levels from a trade, a craft, technician, or a professional position in engineering,accountancy, nursing, medicine, architecture, pharmacy, law etc. Craft vocations are usually based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation. It is sometimes referred to as technical education as the trainee directly develops expertise in a particular group of techniques.

Vocational education is related to the age-old apprenticeship system of learning. Apprenticeships are designed for many levels of work from manual trades to high knowledge work.[6]

Viability and Potential of Rural and Urban Segments in gaining access to benefits of globalization

Education being a strong instrument of bringing not only a change but also a key for gaining access to the benefits of globalization. Urban segments exhibit a strong position in the field of formal education and also relatively strong in terms of non formal, informal and vocational education systems. In case of rural set up the strength of formal education being very low and same pattern more or less is exhibited in cases of other educational systems also.

A revolutionary change of enhancing formal educational system in rural set up appears to be a task impossible, even if possible it is a long run approach which will not yield short term benefits. However, the adaptation of other educational methods apart from formal education can be a prescriptive solution for earning short term gains of globalization. The rural masses no doubt are illiterates, but singularly are not uneducated. Their levels of comprehension, conceptualization is very strong in case of rural exposures compared to that of urban environment. This strong inherit attribute exhibits a high levels of potential for undergoing the modified learning processes in a non formal, informal and vocational ways.

Further, the viability of bringing adaptations of these educational systems matching with the rural environment and understanding is very high. Modification, simplification and user friendly techniques need to be developed in imparting the same to the rural masses.

Adaptation :

1. Non formal education:

The very characteristic of non formal education being highly flexible need to be made more simple in understanding the trade, skills, production , etc concepts in educating the rural masses.

The flora and funa of the rural area being well digested by the rural masses hardly find difficulty in gaining understanding about the modified matching of new concepts to the rural atmosphere.

Just as an urbanite even ruralite is filled with lot of aspirations in individual and community development and growth. The vision of the ruralites appears for them to be bleak, hence hardly any attempts are made sincerely by them, instead they depend on governmental and non-governmental for their development and growth. Each rural individual do have a high learning potential of new and modified concepts.

Rural area which is having a high potential for mobilizing local resources and also diversified in its activities exhibits the high levels potential in gaining education through extension programmes.

2. Informal education:

The rural masses are highly educated in terms of their rural activities and atmosphere. Their life long process of learning in these activities strengthens them to gain education about the new and modified concepts in a informal way rather than in a formal way. Hence , attempts need to be made in simplifying the education systems to make it more informal way of learning and help the rural masses to gain accessibility to the changed education system.

3. Vocational education:

The major feature of vocational education being career oriented and technical in nature can be easily imparted to the rural youths who are already involved in rural activities. Transformation changes economically and socially becomes highly possible by imparting training and practice of different types of commercial and non-commercial activities which can bring positive changes in the rural sector.

CONCLUSION:

Formal education system no doubt, is a cherished distant dream which takes a longer period to yield its fruits in rural sector. Sustaining and strengthening formal education, a more immediate need is to bring a evolutionary change which will be relatively rapid by adaptation of non formal, informal and vocational systems of education in rural areas. The major aims of these education systems should be to educate the rural masses about the ways of gaining access to the economic and social benefits of globalization which can bring in a social and economical metamorphical transformation in the rural society.

Introduction of new urban systems and concepts of commercialization to rural areas expose the rural community to the atmosphere of globalised society. That trickle down benefits need to be converted into sprinkle effects thereby roping them towards the main streams of globalised set up.

REFERENCES:

1. www.dise.in/Downloads/.../Michael%20ward.pdf‎

2. www.preservearticles.com/.../meaning-and-definition-and-concept-of-ed...‎

3. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education‎

4. www.preservearticles.com/.../meaning-and-definition-and-concept-of-ed..

5. http://agriinfo.in/?page=topic&superid=7&topicid=524

6. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocational_education

7. Chavan, M. (2006). ‘On a New Slate: Quality education, not just Education for all, is what is required in India.’ India Today, 21August, pp. 76–80

8. Clarke, P. and J. Jha (2006). ‘Rajasthan’s Experience in Improving Service Delivery in Education,’ in Chand, V.K. (ed.) Reinventing Public Service Delivery in India. Sage, New Delhi.

9. Ward, M., A. Penny and T. Read (2006). Education Reform In Uganda 1997 To 2004: Reflections on Policy, Partnership, Strategy and Implementation, DFID Education Research Paper Number 60, DFID Publications, London

10. MHRD (2003a). Education for All National Plan of Action, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, New Delhi.

Received on 08.04.2017 Modified on 18.04.2017

Asian J. Management; 2017; 8(3):800-804.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2017.00058.0