Muthuveeran Ramasamy shows that the formal way of vocational education and training (VET) in
rural areas often ignores the illiterate the less educated and the poor. The author
demonstrates that VET programs need to be demand-driven and consider the socio-economic aspects
of particular regions. Therefore the significance of the study at grassroots level helps
customize VET programs to respond to the demand of the individuals' vocational training needs
of rural people by keeping their endogenous needs at the centre of vocational skill development
processes. The findings and lessons learnt from action research are also intensively discussed
as guiding principles of demand-driven approaches from the learners' societal perspectives.
