In this paper therefore, the writer delineate explicitly, all related concepts of work experience designs in agriculture under conceptual frame. The concepts captured hitherto were work experience, work experience programmes, work experience in agriculture, Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), and cooperative education. He also explores perspicaciously the various work experience programmes in Nigeria and other developed countries of the world. Efforts were also made to differentiate between cooperative education and SIWES.

1. 1
WORK EXPERIENCE DESIGNS IN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION: CONCEPTS
AND PROGRAMMES
By
ASHANG, MICHAEL USHIE
Department of Agricultural, Faculty of Vocational and Technical Education, University of
Nigeria, Nsukka
E-mail: michael.ashang.pg80441@unn.edu.ng OR michaelashang@yahoo.com
Phone: +2347033198661, +2348024662358
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Growing public demand and legislative expectations for accountability in the past two decades have
made it imperative that higher education administrators and researchers pay attention to the potential
impact of student work programmes on skill development, which in turn, impacts directly on national
development objectives. If Vocational Agricultural Education is to be meaningfully and successfully
implemented in Nigeria, collaborations are needed between public and private sectors to partner
effectively with Vocational Agricultural Education particularly in the area of skill acquisition
programmes for students. With the high level of deficiency in employability skills among graduates of
vocational technical education in general, and Vocational Agricultural Education in particular, the need
to develop programmes that will expose Agricultural Education students to what is happening in the
world of work with the view to acquiring practical experiences that would make them sellable, becomes
incontrovertible.
To correct the deficiency in graduates’ employability skills that culminated in high level of
unemployment among graduates, the establishment of work experience programmes for students of
agricultural education becomes imperative. Work experience is a far more flexible term but normally
refers to some form of temporary work placement within a company where you will work on junior-
level tasks for the purpose of gaining experience and insight into the industry. Students’ work
experience programme is a skill development program designed to prepare students of Nigerian tertiary
institutions for transition from the college environment to work. While work experience in agriculture is
a formal programme that offers students of agriculture experiential learning opportunities in public and
private-owned farms as well as agro-allied industries to compliment classroom instructions.

2. 2
Many work experience programmes in agriculture existed in Nigeria but the prominent among them are
Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), Shell’s student industrial training and internship
programme (SITIP), among others. To have a holistic and broader view of these topics, the different
issues surrounding work experience designs in agricultural education must be clearly explained. In this
paper therefore, the writer delineate explicitly, all related concepts of work experience designs in
agriculture under conceptual frame. The concepts captured hitherto were work experience, work
experience programmes, work experience in agriculture, Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme
(SIWES), and cooperative education. He also explores perspicaciously the various work experience
programmes in Nigeria and other developed countries of the world. Efforts were also made to
differentiate between cooperative education and SIWES.
2.0 CONCEPTUAL FRAME
2.1 Work experience
The term work experience has diverse meanings according to the context to which it is used. The first
context is used in the workplace. Here, the accumulative experiences gathered over years in the world of
work which may be seen as useful in current occupational role is term work experience. According to
Wikipedia Foundation Incorporated (2017), Work experience is any experience that a person gains while
working in a specific field or occupation, but the expression is widely used to mean a type of volunteer
work that is commonly intended for young people — often students — to get a feel for professional
working environments. In the second context, the American equivalent of the term work experience is
internship. In this context, work experience is also seen as the short-term placement of secondary school
students, generally from Years 9 and 10, with employers to provide insights into the industry and the
workplace in which they are located (Victoria State Government, 2017). Though the placements are
usually unpaid, travel and food expenses are sometimes covered, and at the end of the appointment, a
character reference is usually provided. Trainees usually have the opportunity to network and make
contacts among the working personnel, and put themselves forward for forthcoming opportunities for
paid work.
In the European Countries, two main strands of work experience are generally discussed in their
literatures. One consists of those work experience activities commonly offered to students
between 14 and 18 years in full-time education in countries which have strong 'schooling
systems' (Lasonen & Young 1998), for example, Ireland and Sweden, or 'mixed' systems, for

3. 3
example, the UK. The other strand is apparent in those countries with strong VET systems
which offer apprenticeships as an alternative to general education as a clear education and
training pathway for young people (Lasonen & Young 1998). These include Denmark, Germany
and Austria, where work experience has a much longer history as part of such programmes. In
the case of VET, discussions have tended to concentrate upon the contribution which work
experience can make to the development of occupational competence and occupational identity
(Vickers 1995, Stern & Wagner 1999a). In the case of general education, they have tended to
focus upon the extent to which work experience can assist students in their transition to the
labour market and in learning how to become independent adults (Miller et al 1991). More
recently, work experience has sometimes been offered as part of an alternative route for those
young people who are socially excluded with neither employment nor full-time education and
training available to them. This includes initiatives such as the New Deal in the UK and the
Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) in Ireland, which often incorporate work
experience as part of an overall strategy to improve the employability of young people.
Recent EU policy indicates a reassessment both of the relationship between work and education
and the role of work experience in academic and vocational programmes, on the basis that
'globalisation' is generating the need for new learning relationships between education and work
which will support lifelong learning (European Commission, 1995). Thus, in the case of work
experience in both general and vocational education, it is now envisaged that it could fulfil an
important new role, providing an opportunity for those young people in full-time education and
training to develop their understanding about changes in the 'world of work', to enhance their
key skills and to make closer links between their formal programmes of study and the world of
work (Green et al 1999).
However, although there has been more recognition of the need for new learning relationships
between education and work and a new agenda for work experience, there has been much less
discussion of the extent to which the actual context of work may affect learning and
development. Most of the EU and North American research literature (Miller et al 1991; Stern &
Wagner 1999a) and the EU policy literature (EC 1995, 1997) has tended, and is still tending, to
adopt a narrowly functional view of the relationship between education and work. Accordingly,

4. 4
it has perpetuated the idea that the work contexts of work experience are stable and transparent
environments in which students can easily learn and develop. Up to a point, this is, of course, a
useful approach: it enables the development of models for the delivery of work experience based
upon the creation of management arrangements between educational institutions and workplaces
(Griffiths et al 1992, Miller & Forrest 1996, Stern & Wagner 1999a). This encourages schools,
colleges and other intermediary agencies to manage the arrangements between education and
work more effectively and to ensure that essential health and safety considerations are
satisfactorily addressed (Peffers, Griffiths& Romain 1997). However, whilst it was previously
reasonable to assume a fairly stable work environment, this assumption is now questioned by the
unprecedented pace at which global economic pressure, coupled with developments in
communication and information technology, is forcing continuous change in that environment
and resulting in a polarisation between 'knowledge-rich' and 'knowledge-poor' organisations
(Guile forthcoming).
2.2 Work experience programmes
In the second context of the concept of work experience above, it is believed that students could also be
allowed to acquire work experience while in school. Formal instructional programmes are designed in
this case, to expose students formally to courses that will take them out of the normal classroom
instruction. Work experience programmes are formal programmes of instruction that allow students
acquire practical work experience in occupational related industries for 4—6weeks, or even 12 months
(in some cases). It provides students with the valuable opportunity to: develop employability
skills; explore possible career options; understand employer expectations; and increase their
self-understanding, maturity, independence and self-confidence.
Work experience programmes are designed for students in different level of education: the
secondary school level work experience programme and the tertiary level work experience
programme. In the secondary level, work experience is offered on the national curriculum for
students in years 10 and 11 in the United Kingdom (4th year in Scotland), Australia, New
Zealand and the Republic of Ireland; every student who wishes to do so has a statutory right to
take work experience. Work experience in this context is when students in an adult working
environment more or less act as an employee, but with the emphasis on learning about the world

5. 5
of work. Placements are limited by safety and security restrictions, insurance cover and
availability, and do not necessarily reflect eventual career choice but instead allow a broad
experience of the world of work
At the tertiary level of work experience, it is usually offered between the second and final years
of an undergraduate degree course, especially in the science, engineering and computing fields.
During this time, the students on work placement have the opportunity to use the skills and
knowledge gained in their first two years, and see how they are applied to real world problems.
This offers them useful insights for their final year and prepares them for the job market once
their course has finished. Some companies sponsor students in their final year at university with
the promise of a job at the end of the course. This is an incentive for the student to perform well
during the placement as it helps with two otherwise unwelcome stresses: the lack of money in
the final year, and finding a job when the University course ends
Work experience programmes in tertiary institutions in Nigeria are designed specifically to:
 provide avenue for students to acquire industrial skills and experience relevant to their
course of study.
 provide students with an opportunity to apply acquired theoretical knowledge in real
work situations, thereby bridging the gap between knowledge and practice.
 prepare students for the work situation they will meet during their post-graduation period.
 expose students to work methods and techniques of handling equipment/machinery that
may not be available in their institutions of higher learning.
 make transition from school to the world of work easier and enhance students’ contacts
and networking for post-qualification job placement.
 enlist and strengthen employers’ involvement in the entire educational process of
preparing graduates for employment and industry
2.3 Work experience in agriculture
Work experience in agriculture is a formal programme that offers students of agriculture experiential
learning opportunities in public and private-owned farms as well as agro-allied industries to compliment
classroom instructions. Work experience in agriculture exposes the students to all forms of agricultural

6. 6
programmes such as horticulture, poultry, fishery, field crop production, among others. It also gives
them the opportunity to handle heavy agricultural machineries like tractors, boom sprayers, ploughs, and
so on, which may not be available in the school setting.
2.4 Students industrial work experience scheme (SIWES)
Students’ work experience programme is a skill development program designed to prepare students of
Nigerian tertiary institutions for transition from the college environment to work. According to
Industrial Training Fund (2004a), SIWES is a planned and supervised training intervention based on
stated and specific learning and career objectives, and geared towards developing the occupational
competencies of the participants. It is a programme required to be undertaken by all students of tertiary
institutions in Nigeria pursuing courses in “specialized engineering, technical, business, applied sciences
and applied arts” (ITF, 2004a). Therefore, SIWES is generic, cutting across over 60 programmes in the
universities, over 40 programmes in the polytechnics and about 10 programmes in the colleges of
education. Thus, SIWES is not specific to any one course of study or discipline(Olusegun, n.d.).
Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is a programme that was designed to equip
students with work skills, methods and processes of an industry (ITF, 2003). Osinem and Nwoji (2010)
stated that Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme is a skill training programme designed to
expose and prepare students of higher institutions for work situations, as they exist in the world of work.
The authors noted that the scheme provides students with opportunities to familiarize themselves with
and expose them to tools, equipment and machines that are not available in their various institutions but
which will be used after graduation. The scheme exposes the students to work methods and prepares
them for safeguarding the work area and other workers in the industry.
2.5 Cooperative education
A practice where students are given opportunity to combine classroom instruction with practical work
experience under the supervision of the school and the employer of labour is known as cooperative
education. Simply put, the school authorities and the employers of labour cooperatively develop
students’ knowledge, skills, and competencies in order to make them employable. According to online
student handbook of Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical School (n.d):
“Cooperative Education is a program of vocational technical education for students who,
through a cooperative arrangement between the school and employers, receive instruction,

7. 7
including required academic courses and related vocational instruction, by the alternating of
study in school with a job in the occupation field. Such instruction shall be planned and
supervised by the school and the employer so that each contributes to the student’s education
and employability. Work periods will be on alternate weeks during the school year.”(p.4)
However, Wikipedia Foundation Incorporated (2017) maintained that cooperative education (also
known as co-op) is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work
experience. It further avowed that a cooperative education experience provides academic credit for
structured job experience. Cooperative education is taking on new importance in helping young people
to make the school-to-work transition. Cooperative learning falls under the umbrella of work-integrated
learning (alongside internships, service learning and clinical placements) but is distinct as it alternates a
school term with a work term in a structured manner, involves a partnership between the academic
institution and the employer, and generally is both paid and intended to advance the education of the
student.
3.0 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COOPERATIVE EDUCATION AND STUDENTS
INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME (SIWES)
SIWES Cooperative education
SIWES is a cooperative internship programme
particularly designed for students of
technology and engineering
Cooperative education is all-embracing and
encompasses all disciplines and subject areas
SIWES is carried out within the programme
duration of the students for relevant on-the job
training and practical experience
Cooperative education coverage span through
the programme duration and beyond.
The programme planning involves the
institutions who are implementers and ITF who
funds the programme
The programme planning is a collaborative
efforts of both the industries involved and the
institutions concerned
Participating students are paid by ITF Payment of allowances could be made by the
industries involved

8. 8
SIWES is a national work experience
programme
Cooperative education is open for international
enclosure into school programmes of any
nation interested
4.0 WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAMMES IN NIGERIA
1. Shell’s Student Industrial Training and Internship Programme (SITIP)
2. Afe-Babalola University’s Students Work Experience Programme (SWEP)
3. Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES)
4. Professional Internship Programmes (PIP)—For Law and Medical graduates
4.1 Shell’s Student Industrial Training and Internship Programme (SITIP)
Shell Companies in Nigeria’s Student Industrial Training Programme offers Nigerian students in Higher
Institutions the opportunity to gain work experience in different locations. It is a work experience
programme designed for students running courses in:
 Engineering
 Earth Sciences (Geology, Geophysics, Geography)
 Sciences
 Social Sciences
 Medical Sciences
The programme provides hands-on work experience from day one, providing students the opportunity to
work directly with inspiring and experienced professionals. The insights and skills gained by the end of
the programme are invaluable for future careers. This Industrial Training Programme is designed for
students to:
 Put theories and concepts into practice
 Build work related skills required for the business environment through constructive feedback
and supervision
 Improve their general business/industry understanding
 Gain additional skills in areas such as communication, team building, problem solving and
analytical reasoning
 Build valuable networks and contacts for professional development

9. 9
 Gain insights into career options to support choice of specialised field area
Eligible applicants must be enrolled full‐time in a University or Polytechnic and must have authorisation
from their school to participate in the programme. All applicants are usually required to have their
personal valid email account (for consistent communication). Applicants who meet the above
requirements normally apply via email to africarecruitment@shell.com. The Email content must include:
 Student’s name
 Name of University/institution of higher learning
 Matriculation Number/ student ID number
 Course of study
 Required duration/period for internship and
 Contact details
 Scanned copy of official letter/ form from higher institution
 Current Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)/Grade Point Average (GPA)
Their industrial training opportunities are usually based on business needs with limited slots available
yearly.
4.2 Students Work Experience Programme (SWEP)
Afe-Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti declared established their own Students Work Experience
Programme (SWEP) for her students in the College of Engineering in 2011. SWEP is aimed to serve as
a prelude to the Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) which is a mandatory
programme of engineering training to be undertaken for a prolonged and continuous period of six month
in their 400 level programmes.
SWEP spans a period of 4weeks. The four week Programme is aimed at:
 Exposing the 200 level students to practical activities in the major disciplines of Civil,
Electrical/Electronics and Mechanical Engineering works involving masonry, carpentry,
welding, machine operations and fittings. Others are woodwork, foundry electrical wiring,
equipment maintenance and repairs.
 sharpening students’ skills in their chosen career
 Engaging them in workshop and outdoor manual labour thereby appreciating the dignity of
labour.

10. 10
 Developing the Students innovative and creative abilities necessary in today’s competitive
Engineering world.
 exposing students to the world of work outside their campus academic activities
 enabling them to integrate the theoretical academic curricula with real-life Engineering and
Industrial Practices
 making them usefully employable after graduation.
4.3 Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES)
SIWES was established by Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in 1973 to solve the problem of lack of
adequate practical skills preparatory for employment in industries by Nigerian graduates of tertiary
institutions. The Scheme exposes students to industry based skills necessary for a smooth transition from
the classroom to the world of work. It affords students of tertiary institutions the opportunity of being
familiarized and exposed to the needed experience in handling machinery and equipment which are
usually not available in the educational institutions.
Participation in SIWES has become a necessary pre-condition for the award of Diploma and Degree
certificates in specific disciplines in most institutions of higher learning in the country, in accordance
with the education policy of government. The Operators of SIWES included:
 the ITF
 the coordinating agencies (NUC, NCCE, NBTE)
 employers of labour and,
 The institutions.
Philosophy—The students industrial work experience scheme directorate (SIWES) is established to
facilitate the full realization and mandatory skills acquisition and proper training programmes designed
to expose students to the industrial workplace environment in their respective disciplines during their
course of study. The students are expected to develop occupational competence that would facilitate
their fitting into the world of work after graduation.
The programmes of SIWES are designed to achieve the following objectives:
 Provision of avenue for students to acquire industrial skills and experience during their course of
study
 To prepare students for the work situation they are likely to meet after graduation

11. 11
 To expose students to work methods and techniques in handling equipment and machineries that
they may not be available in the universities
 To make the transition from the university to the world of work easier and thus enhance students
contacts for later job placement.
 To provide students with an opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge in real work
situations, thereby bridging the gap between theory and practice.
SIWES is funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria and major beneficiaries are Undergraduate
students of the following:
 Agriculture,
 Engineering,
 Technology,
 Environmental,
 Science,
 Education,
 Medical Science and
 Pure and Applied Sciences.
The durations are - Four months for Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, and Six months for the
Universities.
4.4 Professional Internship Programmes (PIP)—For Law and Medical graduates
New graduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions studying law, medicine and surgery, and nursing are
expected to run a one-year Professional Internship Programme in their respective professions before
they are allowed to practice. Their education combines both academic and practical traditions in their
curricula, emphasizing the goals of integrating theoretical and practical knowledge. In other words, the
Professional Internship Programme attempts to bridge the theory – practice gap and enhance
professional competency by introducing different methods to enhance both the theoretical and practical
teaching – learning experiences of graduates.

12. 12
5.0 WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAMMES IN OTHER COUNTRIES
5.1.0 Work Experience Programmes in Canada USA
The following work experience programs are recognized in Ontario of Canada, USA:
5.1.1 School–work transition programs (SWTP)
School–work transition programs are specialized programs that prepare students for employment or self-
employment. Placements are selected from current and emerging employment sectors where job
opportunities are known to exist or are expected to exist in the future. School boards provide school–
work transition programs for students intending to enter the workforce directly after graduating from
high school. These programs are also available to exceptional students and students who are not
identified as exceptional but who receive a special education program or services.
School–work transition programs include both in-school and work-based experiences, including job
shadowing, work experience, cooperative education, and in-depth skills training, and require the
involvement of employers in their development and delivery. These programs may provide advanced
standing or additional certification for students in apprenticeship and skills certificate programs. The job
shadowing, work experience and cooperative education portions of school–work transition programs
must be implemented in accordance with the policies and procedures.
School–work transition programs consist of a number of courses that prepare students to meet the
requirements of a specific occupation or apprenticeship. Initially, a combination of courses that include
opportunities for career exploration through job shadowing and work experience is appropriate. Later,
students receive more in-depth training through courses oriented towards their postsecondary education
or workplace destinations and through skill development obtained through cooperative education
placements that relate directly to their chosen careers. School boards establish partnerships with
employers to provide students with appropriate placements.
5.1.2 Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP)
The Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) is a specialized program that enables students who
are 16 years of age or older to meet diploma requirements while participating in an occupation that
requires apprenticeship. The program must meet the following requirements:

13. 13
 School boards must develop partnerships with local labour market stakeholders (e.g., employers
and local training boards), particularly with employers who can provide placements in
apprenticeship occupations.
 Students enrolled in OYAP earn cooperative education credits in accordance with the policies
and procedures of OYAP guidelines established by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and
Universities (MTCU).
 The OYAP placement must provide appropriate training, supervision, and evaluation.
 A certified journeyperson provides the placement component – apprenticeship on-the-job
training – according to the regulations of the trade.
 The approved training standards of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities must
complement, or serve as the basis for the student’s personalized placement learning plan.
 School boards interested in delivering the apprenticeship in-school curriculum must obtain prior
approval from both the Ministry of Education and the Program Development and Standards Unit
of the MTCU and the area office of the Workplace Support Services Branch.
 If a school board provides an apprenticeship in-school curriculum, the training must be delivered
by a teacher who holds an Ontario Teacher’s Certificate as well as being qualified in the trade.
An OYAP student is a student who is earning cooperative education credits for work experience in an
apprenticeship occupation. The student may or may not be formally registered as an apprentice while
attending secondary school. An OYAP student may be given approval to be placed in a company at
which he or she currently holds a part-time job, provided that there is a clear distinction between the
tasks outlined in the personalized placement learning plan and the duties of the paid position. A school
board, a community college, or another approved deliverer (such as a union-sponsored training agent)
may offer the apprenticeship in-school training to OYAP students. All students participating in OYAP
must:
 complete sixteen credits towards the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) prior to
starting the program;
 be enrolled as full-time students during the program;
 Complete all compulsory credits required for the OSSD.

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5.1.3 Job shadowing and Job twinning
Job shadowing allows a student to spend one-half to one day (or, in some cases, up to three days) with a
worker in a specific occupation. Job twinning provides the opportunity for the student to accompany a
cooperative education student to his or her placement for one-half to one day. A student may participate
in more than one job shadowing or job twinning experience, thereby obtaining a broader range of career
information through observation in typical workplace environments. Job shadowing and job twinning
may be integrated into any credit course and may also be components of a student’s school–work
transition program.
5.1.4 Virtual work experience
The changing world of work provides new opportunities for student placement. The impact of
innovations in information technology and the use of the Internet allow for students to participate in
“virtual work” placements. As an example, a student enrolled in a Grade 11 English course could
participate in a virtual work experience that linked him or her with a story editor, a reporter, or a
copywriter at a local, regional, or national newspaper. If the technology is accessible, virtual work
experience can give students – including students who are receiving special education programs and
services and students in rural areas or remote communities – the opportunity to participate in a greater
variety of experiences than have ever been available to them in the past.
A short-term virtual work experience – the equivalent of one to four weeks – can be included as part of
any credit course. The implementation of virtual work experience must follow the same policies and
procedures outlined in this document for work experience:
 Teachers must develop a personalized placement learning plan, in collaboration with the
placement supervisor, for each student planning a virtual work experience.
 Like students involved in a work experience placement outside the school, students participating
in a virtual work placement must receive preparation in job-readiness skills, health and safety
training, and school and placement expectations.
 Teachers must conduct an assessment of the placement following the criteria
 Students involved in virtual work experience should also be given the opportunity to reflect on
and integrate the experience with curriculum expectations.

15. 15
In addition, teachers must ensure that students involved in virtual work experience have an
understanding of Internet protocols, especially as they relate to safety, privacy, and confidentiality
issues.
5.2.0 Work Experience Programmes in India
5.2.1 Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE)
The Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE) helps the students primarily to understand the rural
situations, status of Agricultural technologies adopted by farmers, prioritize the farmer’s problems and
to develop skills & attitude of working with farm families for overall development in rural area. The
objectives of RAWE are:
 To provide an opportunity to the students to understand the rural setting in relation to agriculture
and allied activities.
 To make the students familiar with socio-economic conditions of the farmers and their problems.
 To impart diagnostic and remedial knowledge to the students relevant to real field situations
through practical training.
 To develop communication skills in students using extension teaching methods in transfer of
technology.
 To develop confidence and competence to solve agricultural problems.
 To acquaint students with on-going extension and rural development programmes.
5.2.2 In-Plant Training/Agro Industrial Attachment (AIA)
THE OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAMME—Technology and globalization are ushering an era of
unprecedented change. The need and pressure for change and innovation is immense. To enrich the
practical knowledge of the students, in-plant training shall be mandatory in the last semester for a period
of up to 3 weeks. In this training, students will have to study a problem in industrial perspective and
submit the reports to the college. Such in-plant trainings will provide an industrial exposure to the
students as well as to develop their career in the high tech industrial requirements. In-Plant training is
meant to correlate theory and actual practices in the industries. It is expected that sense of running an
industry maybe articulated in right way through this type of industrial attachment mode. Agro-Industrial
Attachment (AIA) has 4 Credits units. The Objectives include:

16. 16
 To expose the students to Industrial environment, this cannot be simulated in the university.
 To familiarize the students with various Materials, Machines, Processes, Products and their
applications along with relevant aspects of shop management.
 To make the students understand the psychology of the workers, and approach to problems along
with the practices followed at factory
 To understand the scope, functions and job responsibilities in various departments of an
organization.
 To expose various aspects of entrepreneurship during the programme period.
Details of placement stipulate the following:
 Students shall be placed in Agro-and Cottage industries and Commodities Boards for three
weeks.
 Industries include Seed/Sapling production, Pesticides-insecticides, Post harvest-processing-
value addition, Agri-finance institutions, etc.
5.3.0 Work Experience Programmes in Britain
5.3.1 Flexible New Deal
One of the flagship initiatives of the Labour Party when it came to power in 1997 was a comprehensive
programme of assistance for the long-term unemployed, the New Deal. The New Deal (renamed as
Flexible New Deal in October 2009) was a workfare programme introduced in the United Kingdom by
the first New Labour government in 1998, initially funded by a one-off £5 billion windfall tax on
privatised utility companies. The stated purpose was to reduce unemployment by providing training,
subsidised employment and voluntary work to the unemployed.
The aim of the initiative was to help those who found it difficult to compete actively in the labour
market, and to address various labour market inefficiencies. Although originally targeting the young
unemployed (18- to 24-year-olds), the New Deal programmes subsequently targeted other groups. These
include:
 New Deal for Young People (NDYP) received by far the greatest proportion of New Deal
funding (£3.15 billion through to 2002[citation needed] ). It targeted unemployed youth (aged
18–24) unemployed for 6 months or longer.

17. 17
 New Deal 25+ targeted aged 25+ unemployed for eighteen months or more. In terms of funding,
£350 million was allocated up to 2002.
 New Deal for Lone Parents targeted single parents with school age children. £200 million was
directly allocated to the program, not including additional assistance for child-care.
 New Deal for the Disabled targeted those with disabilities in receipt of Incapacity and similar
benefits. £200 million was budgeted for the program up to 2002 (Peck, “Workfare” 304-305).
This was superseded by the 'Work Capability Assessment', introduced by the Brown government
in 2008, and administered by Atos Healthcare.
 New Deal 50+ targeted those aged 50+.
 New Deal for Musicians was a little-known element aimed at unemployed musicians.
5.3.2 Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP)—in Ireland, Britain
The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) is an intervention designed to enhance the
vocational dimension of the Leaving Certificate (established). The programme was introduced in 1994
in response to the challenge placed on Ireland’s education system by a changing work and business
environment. The LCVP combines the academic strengths of the Leaving Certificate (established) with a
new and dynamic focus on self-directed learning, enterprise, work and the community. This two year
programme is part of an expanded provision that aims to cater for the diversity of participants’ needs at
senior cycle. The primary goal of the LCVP is to prepare young people for adult life by ensuring that
they are educated in the broadest sense, with an ability to cope and thrive in an environment of rapid
change. Participants in the programme are encouraged to develop skills and competencies fundamental
to both academic and vocational success.
Throughout the programme students are encouraged to:
 be innovative and enterprising
 take responsibility for their own learning
 adapt to changing circumstances
 evaluate data and devise solutions to problems
 communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively
 work with others as part of a team
 investigate and plan career options
 use information and communications technologies

18. 18
 investigate local business and community enterprises
 learn from their experiences.
These skills and qualities are equally relevant to the needs of those preparing for further education,
seeking employment or planning to start their own business. However, the strong vocational focus of the
LCVP is achieved by arranging Leaving Certificate subjects into Vocational Subject Groupings and
through the provision of two additional courses of study in work preparation and enterprise, known as
the Link Modules. The use of active teaching and learning methodologies is encouraged in the LCVP.
Experiences such as work placements, career investigations, mini-enterprises, business and community
visits are an integral part of the programme. This rich activity base requires a considerable time
commitment and high degree of flexibility from the LCVP coordinator and teaching team in the school.
Effective implementation of the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme requires careful planning
and the active on-going support of the principal, senior management and the whole school as an
organisation.

19. 19
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