The KVKs give vocational training courses for rural youth to prepare them for self-employment. The main objective of establishing the KVKs was to accelerate the process of an efficient technology transfer. In India the number of dropouts aged 11 to 14 years is about 72 percent. In this regard, the establishment of agricultural schools is an innovative approach. These schools are under the administrative control of the State Department of Agriculture and are financed by the State Government.
Training is given on basic concepts in agriculture and related activities.
Candidates for training are selected from those who have studied up to the seventh standard level and come preferably from farm families. This is to help the young people to increase their interest in farming and enable them to develop the required practical skills. Table 4 shows the increasing number of farmers trained in farmers' training programmes over the different plan periods in Karnataka. The trainees get a thorough background of agricultural technology and a good knowledge of the latest developments in agriculture. While many of them return to farming and help their families in the management of their farms, a good number of trainees seek employment elsewhere as social workers, promoters and basic workers at the field level.