A university professor wants to encourage students to pursue vocational training to address the lack of vocationally-trained workers. 50 ideas are proposed to promote vocational education, including distributing flyers about a world without vocational workers, creating a headset to download skills, and developing more apprenticeships with employers for students. The professor's favorite idea is to create more apprenticeships for practical, on-the-job skills training for students.

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Problem Statement
A doctorate holder university professor who has strong analytical skills and an eye
for detail needs a way to encourage students to diversify their skill-sets because
vocationally-trained workers are lacking in society.
50 Ideas
1. Introduce vocational studies in high schools.
2. Build more vocational schools.
3. Train more teachers in vocational subjects.
4. Hold talks and exhibitions on the benefits and advantages of vocational training.
5. Build special labs or areas with well equipped facilities in schools for vocational
training.
6. Organize vocational skills-based competitions with attractive prizes.
7. Develop more apprenticeship opportunities with potential employers for school
leavers.
8. Increase the range of subjects available to be taught in vocational studies.
9. Have a balanced number of vocational schools in rural and urban areas.
10. Introduce vocational studies in adult education as part of continuous learning
programs for interested parties.
11. Develop incentives for teachers to be trained to teach vocational studies.
12. Get experienced people who have undergone vocational training to be part of
these talks and exhibitions to share their experiences and encourage others.
13. Publicize the existence of vocational training labs in schools via flyers, classroom
announcements and online communication tools.
14. Inform as many parents and students as possible about vocational skills-based
competitions and how having these skills can benefit students in future.
15. Develop a system to match potential employers offering apprenticeship
opportunities with students keen to take up such opportunities.
16. Appoint ambassadors from vocational schools to visit high schools and conduct
information sessions and also hold such sessions with the public to generate mass
interest.

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17. Distribute flyers and pamphlets to the public to depict what a world without
vocationally trained workers would look like.
18. Ask people to tell their friends about the existence of vocational schools.
19. Change people's perspectives - tell them that despite gloomy job market,
vocational training offers employment opportunities.
20. Introduce vocational training workshops in colleges/universities - offer
opportunities to undergraduates to consider an alternative career while learning
practical skills.
21. Lobby the government to make vocational education compulsory to earn a
certain amount of credit in high school.
22. Organize mini 'design thinking challenges' starting in high school and encourage
students to tackle real world problems and propose practical solutions.
23. Incorporate design thinking philosophies into the current school curriculum, for
example, require students to write essays about how certain problems can be solved
and what skills are required.
24. Build specialized community colleges and universities dedicated to vocational
education. Emphasis is given to research and development to take vocational
education to the next level to be on par with any existing profession.
25. With an unlimited budget, every high school in the country will have vocational
training labs with state of the art equipment.
26. Television programs on vocational training to be aired during prime time.
27. Include in every major newspaper, a section on resources related to vocational
education.
28. Build websites and mobile apps to enlighten people and generate interest in
vocational training.
29. Get computer game developers to build games which test vocational training
skills.
30. Hold reality TV-type competitions similar to Donald Trump's 'The Apprentice'
with special emphasis on vocational skills which will be required to win the
competition.
31. Capture people's attention with electronic billboards that display what happens
to a society that lacks vocationally trained workers - a society that crumbles and is
unable to compete with others worldwide.

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32. Send government officials to visit the countries with the best vocational
education system and learn from them.
33. Hire experts from countries with the best vocational education system to advise
us on how we can implement a similar system to suit our needs.
34. Form a network among friends and neighbors in the local community to develop
further interest in vocational education.
35. Visit companies and other potential employers to gather support in implementing
apprenticeship programs.
36. Organize a fund raising event to raise awareness about the importance of
vocational education.
37. Lobby the government to subsidize vocational education at all levels.
38. Get community colleges to conduct vocational training workshops in the DIY
section of bookstores to attract public interest. At the same time, persuade
bookstores to offer discounts on books and materials related to vocational education.
39. Make current vocational education more interesting, for example, offer students
the opportunity to make the lives of the needy more comfortable via projects which
require vocational skills.
40. Stage a play in a theater which focuses on the dilemma of today's education
system and the options available to students pondering their future.
41. Create a device shaped like a headset which will download vocational skills to
anyone wearing it.
42. Create a device which functions like a crystal ball and enable anyone to see what
will happen to their career path if they were to choose between a general education
and a vocational education.
43. Create shape-shifting tools, for example, a hammer which can transform into a
screwdriver or spanner. These tools will provoke excitement and wonder and
generate interest in certain vocational studies.
44. Create tools with artificial intelligence embedded, for example, tools such as
electric saw, wrench or spanner which can suggest various ways of using these tools
to complete a task.
45. Take 3-D printing to the next level - enable the printing of tools and materials
needed to complete a task, no matter how complex the tool or material may be.

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46. Create a wearable device which will allow anyone to swap vocational skills with
anyone else within a certain distance.
47. Create a virtual environment ala The Matrix where a person can hone his
vocational skills and make all the mistakes in this environment before applying these
skills in real life.
48. Launch student exchange programs in rural and urban vocational schools to
allow students to participate in projects and tasks that will enable them to appreciate
views of life and challenges each other faces.
49. Lobby the government and employers to provide scholarships to deserving
students to attend vocational schools.
50. Train career counsellors in high schools to enlighten students on the
opportunities available in vocational education and careers.
3 selected ideas
i) Most practical idea
Distribute flyers and pamphlets to the public to depict what a world
without vocationally trained workers would look like.
These flyers and pamphlets would contain graphic images of, for example, a person
struggling to repair a broken down vehicle; a person wondering just how to fix a
broken pipe; and a person struggling to cook his meals. A caption to this effect
would be included, "Where is a vocationally trained person when you need him?"
ii) Most disruptive idea
Create a device shaped like a headset which will download vocational
skills to anyone wearing it.
This device, once invented, will allow anyone wearing it to download almost any
type of vocational skill available into his brain and become instantly trained in a
particular field. This is similar to what was portrayed in the movie, The Matrix, where
the character Neo learns kung-fu skills in this manner.
iii) Favorite idea
Develop more apprenticeship opportunities with potential employers for
school leavers.
For anyone to develop a skill competently requires ongoing practice and such
opportunities must be made available especially for school leavers. Interested parties

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and authorities concerned should encourage and persuade as many employers as
possible to create apprenticeship positions which will allow school leavers to develop
much needed vocational skills. This will enable them to contribute effectively in the
workforce later on.