Book Review: India: preparation for the world of work: education system and school to work transition

A concern with competitiveness is as apparent in India as it is elsewhere in the global economy. This
interest rests alongside the oft repeated argument that calls for up-skilling and the on-going
enhancement of vocational education and training (VET) so as to meet the needs of industry. Pilz, in
this edited book, has brought together a number of papers that address Indian VET and its role in
the preparation for work. The book is encyclopaedic in its coverage of VET, both formal and
informal, and its various manifestations in India. Pilz invited each of his contributors to address
seventeen key questions (figure 2 p21): these ranged from programme aims, institutional location,
curriculum (compulsory as well as elective components), responsibility for design and
implementation, the prescribed and enacted curriculum, pedagogy, through to learner expectations
and so on.