Indian Social Work Education: A Generalist Core Competence Approach

Abstract

This article is a critique of the current social work training methodology inIndia, which is specialisation-intensive and non-reflective of the trainingneeds of practitioners. The paper draws attention to the growth of SocialWork in the country in terms of the increasing numbers of schools ofsocial work and Non-Governmental Organisations. These numbers haveled to the demand for superior performance and accountability from socialworkers, which in turn is dependent on the quality of training offered tothem. The paper employs an elaborate literature review, adopting ahistorical and international perspective, to expose the grey areas of thepresent system of social work education and training in India and bringout the relevance of the Generalist Core Competence approach in thecountry. It is argued that the Generalist Core Competence approach iscapable of augmenting practice and assisting the social work profession toovercome its challenges.