Post by Maestro on Oct 22, 2007 20:03:31 GMT 5.5
— Samares Kumar Das
Extension Education is the process of teaching rural people how to live better by learning ways to improve their farm, home and community institutions' (J Paul Leagans).
Extension Education is 'helping people to help themselves' in changing their behaviour (Knowledge, attitude and skill) in a desirable direction in order to bring overall development in an individual, and in his family, in his community and thereby in his nation. But the task of developing an individual is not so easy. For this an Extension Educator has to be a teacher, guide, friend and philosopher to the villagers/rural poor. Thus if one aspires to be an Extension Educator he must be possessing an attitude and aptitude essentially demanded by the profession (i.e. interest and ability to work for the villagers) in addition to having a sound knowledge and understanding of the subject. Thus it can be a challenging profession with a satisfaction for the works done.
Institutes/Universities offering degree in Extension Education
The following branches of Extension Education :- Agricultural Extension, Veterinary/Animal Husbandry Extension, Dairy Extension, Fishery Extension, Home Science Extension, etc. fall within the purview of higher agricultural education with emphasis on respective technical areas. In India the subject is taught at master's and doctoral level. With a few exceptions all the State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and four National Institute (NIs)/Deemed Universities (DUs) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) offer master's degree for two years (one year course work and one year research work) and doctoral degree for a minimum of three years (one year course work and minimum two years research work) in the branches of Extension Education. Four ICAR premier institutes offering master's and doctoral degree in Extension Education are as follows:
• Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi offers MSc and PhD in Agricultural Extension Education.
• Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), U.P. offers Master of Veterinary Science (MVSc) and PhD in Veterinary Extension Education.
• National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Haryana offers MSc and PhD in Dairy Extension Education.
• Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Mumbai offers Master of Fishery Science (MFSc) and PhD in Fishery Extension Education.
Curriculum
With some few variations in contents and titles the following courses are offered in Extension Education by the SAUs and NIs at the master's and doctoral level in general.
• Fundamentals of Extension Education
• Extension/Social Science Research
• Extension Teaching Methods and Audio-Visual Aids.
• Introductory Rural Sociology.
• Research Methodology
• Rural Development Programmes
• Diffusion and adoption of innovations.
• Communication Process I, II
• Extension Programme Planning and Evaluation
• Extension Organisation and Administration.
• Advanced Social Science Research Methods.
• Theory Construction/Scaling Techniques
• Training Methodology
• Dynamics of Social Change
• Group Dynamics and Rural Leadership
• Learning Theories
• Introduction to Social Psychology
• Introduction to General Psychology
• Development Administration.
• Extension Management.
(List is indicative, not exhaustive). (to know more about the discipline, eligibility for admission, fellowships, how and when to apply, the SAUs/NIs offering the degree, etc. log on to http://www.icar.org.in).
Employment Opportunities
There are government, private and a few consultancy services one can opt as per his qualification and experience. Among government services there are posts of Lecturer/Assistant Professor in the SAUs; Scientist in the ICAR/CSIR Institutes, DRDO, etc. Training Associate (TA) in Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs) run by selected ICAR institutes, SAUs, State Departments; etc. Besides, temporary job as a JRF/SRF, Research Associate/Project Associate, etc. in various ICAR, CSIR, DRDO sponsored research projects under ICAR, CSIR institutes, SAUs, etc are also available. A large number of national and international NGOs engaged in rural development and related R&D activities recruit Extension personnel in different positions depending on the educational qualifications and experiences in the field concerned. Also KVKs run by several NGOs employ Extension Educationists as Scientist.
Presently, opportunity to work as a counsellor or consultant is limited. Nevertheless, enough scope will be there for Extensionists to explore and exploit the opportunities in the area of self-employment in the fature.
(The author is Veterinary Officer, Dakshin Dinajpur, West Bengal)
Extension Education is the process of teaching rural people how to live better by learning ways to improve their farm, home and community institutions' (J Paul Leagans).
Extension Education is 'helping people to help themselves' in changing their behaviour (Knowledge, attitude and skill) in a desirable direction in order to bring overall development in an individual, and in his family, in his community and thereby in his nation. But the task of developing an individual is not so easy. For this an Extension Educator has to be a teacher, guide, friend and philosopher to the villagers/rural poor. Thus if one aspires to be an Extension Educator he must be possessing an attitude and aptitude essentially demanded by the profession (i.e. interest and ability to work for the villagers) in addition to having a sound knowledge and understanding of the subject. Thus it can be a challenging profession with a satisfaction for the works done.
Institutes/Universities offering degree in Extension Education
The following branches of Extension Education :- Agricultural Extension, Veterinary/Animal Husbandry Extension, Dairy Extension, Fishery Extension, Home Science Extension, etc. fall within the purview of higher agricultural education with emphasis on respective technical areas. In India the subject is taught at master's and doctoral level. With a few exceptions all the State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and four National Institute (NIs)/Deemed Universities (DUs) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) offer master's degree for two years (one year course work and one year research work) and doctoral degree for a minimum of three years (one year course work and minimum two years research work) in the branches of Extension Education. Four ICAR premier institutes offering master's and doctoral degree in Extension Education are as follows:
• Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi offers MSc and PhD in Agricultural Extension Education.
• Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), U.P. offers Master of Veterinary Science (MVSc) and PhD in Veterinary Extension Education.
• National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Haryana offers MSc and PhD in Dairy Extension Education.
• Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Mumbai offers Master of Fishery Science (MFSc) and PhD in Fishery Extension Education.
Curriculum
With some few variations in contents and titles the following courses are offered in Extension Education by the SAUs and NIs at the master's and doctoral level in general.
• Fundamentals of Extension Education
• Extension/Social Science Research
• Extension Teaching Methods and Audio-Visual Aids.
• Introductory Rural Sociology.
• Research Methodology
• Rural Development Programmes
• Diffusion and adoption of innovations.
• Communication Process I, II
• Extension Programme Planning and Evaluation
• Extension Organisation and Administration.
• Advanced Social Science Research Methods.
• Theory Construction/Scaling Techniques
• Training Methodology
• Dynamics of Social Change
• Group Dynamics and Rural Leadership
• Learning Theories
• Introduction to Social Psychology
• Introduction to General Psychology
• Development Administration.
• Extension Management.
(List is indicative, not exhaustive). (to know more about the discipline, eligibility for admission, fellowships, how and when to apply, the SAUs/NIs offering the degree, etc. log on to http://www.icar.org.in).
Employment Opportunities
There are government, private and a few consultancy services one can opt as per his qualification and experience. Among government services there are posts of Lecturer/Assistant Professor in the SAUs; Scientist in the ICAR/CSIR Institutes, DRDO, etc. Training Associate (TA) in Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs) run by selected ICAR institutes, SAUs, State Departments; etc. Besides, temporary job as a JRF/SRF, Research Associate/Project Associate, etc. in various ICAR, CSIR, DRDO sponsored research projects under ICAR, CSIR institutes, SAUs, etc are also available. A large number of national and international NGOs engaged in rural development and related R&D activities recruit Extension personnel in different positions depending on the educational qualifications and experiences in the field concerned. Also KVKs run by several NGOs employ Extension Educationists as Scientist.
Presently, opportunity to work as a counsellor or consultant is limited. Nevertheless, enough scope will be there for Extensionists to explore and exploit the opportunities in the area of self-employment in the fature.
(The author is Veterinary Officer, Dakshin Dinajpur, West Bengal)