Benefits of industrial attachment and work placement in vocational education (LSME)

Industrial attachment and work placement encompass a rather formal placement of trainees and students in the workplace with the primary objective of achieving a set of specific learning outcomes that can potentially lead to their employability upon completing their education. With the growing challenge with graduates obtaining employment after completion, industrial attachment provides an avenue for students to gain the experience required by employers. With employers continually showing interest in graduates with work experience  industrial attachment is an effective tool that can be accessed to achieve a high level of employability.

This article aims to evaluate the concept of industrial attachment and work placement and its related benefits.

Significance of Industrial Attachment and Work Placement in Vocational Education

Work experience and workplace skills can be obtained through formal or informal placement. Which provides an avenue for maximum learning value towards graduate employability. In view of this, experience gained and skills acquired can be used for a job application or during an interview. Clearly, higher education has been identified to lag behind in the areas of imbibing and teaching the required skills and knowledge for employment (Brookes and Hughes, 2001). In view of this, the idea of industrial attachment and work placement has been identified to bridge this gap. Vocational education aims to continually provide graduates with experience, knowledge and skills to the employer. Nonetheless, without the component of industrial attachment and work placement. Vital and integral skills required in the working environment are not achievable. Industrial attachment and work placement are hence, saddled with the responsibility of strengthening. The effective teaching and learning of skill–based courses such as vocational education (Awojobi, 2002).

A critical evaluation of the skills and knowledge that employers wish to see in graduates can be categorized as follows (Brookes and Hughes, 2001): self-reliance skills (This includes the ability of the individual to work independently as well as the ability of the prospective employee to identify his or her strengths and contribute to completing assigned tasks); People skills  (This identifies interpersonal skills coupled with effective communication in both writing and communicating in person as well as active involvement in teamwork); General skills (This includes basic skills that can be used in various departments especially in the bid to show flexibility, innovativeness, and ability to adjust to new and challenging situations); and Specialist skills (These include knowledge and technical skills that are usually subject–specific). read more