Key Difference – Education vs Training
Although Education and training appear to be interchangeable words to most people, there is a clear difference between the two words. This impression that education and training are interchangeable is created by most of the institutes that substitute training for education. However, there is a vast difference between education and training which you will realize after reading this article.
What is Education?
Education aims at creating a permanent behavioral change in the individual through imparting knowledge. Formal education is what is imparted in schools from elementary to 10+2 stage after which a student peruses undergraduate and graduate level courses. The basic purpose of this type of education is to impart knowledge about facts, concepts, events and principles. All these form the foundation upon which skills learned later work smoothly. It is through concepts learned in earlier classes that students get the ability to solve problems in higher classes.
It is clear then that education pertains to remembering facts and understanding concepts. On the other hand, training pertains to practical aspects of a task or job and is imparted in training institutes and special training sessions. Let us gain a clearer understanding of training in the next section.
What is Training?
Training, unlike education, is focused upon gaining a particular skill. Training is taken to master a particular task or job and is mostly imparted to adults to let them become proficient in a particular skill. You can get training yourself with the help of a how-to-book to do a particular job at home. The best example of training is when you learn to drive a car. Here you get to know about the practical aspects of driving and using different car parts such as accelerator, clutch, and brakes. On the other hand, if you are learning about driving laws and theoretical aspects of driving, you are getting an education and not training.
There is no denying the importance of training, and without training, education would be incomplete as is easily demonstrated with the practical’s that we carry out in chemistry labs after learning the concepts in the classes. Both are integral to any education system though there are some courses that demand more of practical training than formal education.
Another difference is that training has to come after education. If you do not know about the basic nature of chemicals through education, you can never conduct practicals in the chemistry lab. Can you?
There are some professions where training is more important than education such as plumbing, carpentry, weaving, accounting, marketing and even computer programming where skills can be easily learnt through practical training rather than through formal education.
What is the Difference Between Education and Training?
Definitions of Education and Training:
Education: Education aims at creating a permanent behavioral change in the individual through imparting knowledge.
Training: Training is focused upon gaining a particular skill.
Characteristics of Education and Training:
Nature:
Education: Education is a formal system of learning that is long.
Training: Training is a method that makes a person skilled in a particular job or task only.
Conceptual understanding:
Education: In order to gain conceptual understanding the individual needs education.
Training: Sometimes concepts can be understood through training.
Professions:
Education: In some professions education alone is insufficient.
Training: Some professions are highly training dependent where education alone cannot make a difference
Image Courtesy:
1. “School-education-learning-1750587-h” by woodleywonderworks [CC BY 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons
2. “Training at the Recruit Training Command fire fighting school” by U.S. Navy photo by Mr. Scott A. Thornbloom (RELEASED) – [1] from [2]. [Public Domain] via Wikimedia Commons
