Lucknow: Aimed at arming over 13.5 lakh students enrolled in 45,625 government-run junior high schools with knowledge and skills that would make them self-reliant, the UP government has started the process to include vocational education as an introductory course, covering various trades, from Class 6 to 8 under the new National Education Policy-2020, said officials.
Students from Class 9 and above have already access to it in schools affiliated to UP Board in the state, they said.
Director General (School Education) Vijay Kiran Anand has entrusted the responsibility of presenting a detailed proposal along with financial provisions in this regard to the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), an official of the education department privy to the development confirmed.
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“Discussions have started, and the plan is to soon have a concrete proposal in place in this regard,” said Ajai Singh, joint director (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) at SCERT, UP. Anand in a meeting held on April 2021, had approved the plan to introduce vocational education at pre-secondary level in the state by way of introductory courses covering a range of trades as envisaged in the new NEP-2020.
Officials said that for framing these introductory courses, help of experts from Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras in state, the government polytechnics and Industrial Training Institutes would also be taken. Once ready, the courses would be introduced in 45,625 government-run upper primary schools of the state functioning under the Basic Education department.
The move comes in the backdrop of UP Board already offering a range of vocational subjects as options and increasing them further from session 2021-22. The board has introduced courses on plumber, electrician, disaster management, solar systems repair, mobile repair and NCC in Class 9 and 10, besides NCC for Class 11 and 12 students. Any schools affiliated to the board can introduce these subjects under self-finance mode, the officials said.
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