Relevance: GS-3: Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilisation of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment.

Relevance: GS-2: Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources;

Key Phrases: National Education Policy 2020, creating holistic and well-rounded individuals, Samagra Shiksha, National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), activity-based teaching-learning, change the narrative of Vocational Education as “Applied Learning”, AI For All, Hub and Spoke model, Future Skills

Why in News?

• National Education Policy 2020, ‘The aim of education will not only be cognitive development, but also building character and creating holistic and well-rounded individuals equipped with the key 21st century skills’

Evolution of skilling ecosystem

• Historically, vocational education in schools has been accorded high priority since National Policy on Education, 1986, and Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of Vocationalisation of Secondary Education was launched in 1988.
• Considering various bottlenecks in infrastructure, finance, and policy, the scheme was revised in 2011. The scheme was further revised in 2014 with the specific objectives of
  • Integrating vocational education with general academic education;
  • Enhancing the employability of youth;
  • Filling the gap between educated and employable; and
  • Decreasing the pressure on academic higher education.
• Currently, the scheme is being implemented as part of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Samagra Shiksha’ and has been aligned with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).
  • At the Secondary level -Vocational subjects are introduced as an additional subject
  • At Senior Secondary level these are compulsory elective subjects.
• The scheme covers Government schools and Government aided schools

Performance of the schemes

• An important part of this vision is providing skill education to millions of children in their school years in an integrated and holistic manner
• Under Samagra Shiksha, 14,435 schools have been approved to impart Vocational Education.
• The implementation of Vocational Education has expanded almost 10-fold in the last six years, from only 960 schools in 2014-15 to 11,710 schools across the nation in 2021-22.
• Currently, more than 1.5 million students are undertaking vocational education under Samagra Shiksha as a part of their Secondary and Senior Secondary curriculum with the help of a trained instructor facilitating learning in a trade specific laboratory setup within the school itself
• There are 62 skill courses available at Secondary and Senior Secondary level from 20 sectors such as Agriculture, Automotive, Beauty and Wellness, Construction, Electronics, Healthcare, IT/ITES, Media and entertainment, Plumbing, Retail, Tourism, and Hospitality etc.
• CBSE has also been considering Vocational Education as an important component of holistic education. Vocational Courses offered by CBSE also provide wide choices for schools and students to choose from the relevant competency-based courses.
  • Currently, about 3.5 million students are undergoing vocational courses in Secondary and Senior Secondary schools in the country, including the schools affiliated to CBSE
• Though skill education in schools is one of the means towards this aim, NEP also mentions various challenges faced in its manifestation like
  • Perceived social status hierarchy associated with vocational education,
  • Lack of vertical mobility pathways for its students of post 12th
  • Lack of its integration with mainstream education at all levels

NEP’s goal regarding skilling

• NEP has also set a goal that by 2025, at least 50% of learners through the school and higher education system, shall have exposure to vocational education, making them learn at least one vocation and expose them to several more by integrating vocational education into all schools and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in a phased manner over the next decade. Importantly, NEP 2020 also encourages different Models of Vocational Education in schools so that locally relevant skill education can be offered in appropriate manner.

Child at the Core

• Any intervention of providing Vocational Education needs to keep the child at the Core and care about the outcomes that are being achieved for the child.
• There is an effort to provide age appropriate and customised Vocational education at each level of the school (Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary)
• Provisions have been made to provide exposure to Vocational Education at Upper Primary level (Grade 6-8), with an aim to provide opportunities to the students to orient themselves with the skills required for the various occupations in a sector and to equip them to make informed choices while selecting their subjects in higher classes.
• The pre-vocational education programme to be introduced from Grades 6 to 8 will mainly focus on activity-based teaching-learning. This will reduce the boundaries between the bookish knowledge and practical knowledge and will also expose children to the skill requirements in the work areas, thus helping them to decide the future career path.
  • These activities would also foster the development of soft skills, such as aesthetic values, cooperation, teamwork, judicious use of raw materials, creativity, quality consciousness, etc.
  • The desirable attitudes and values with respect to the appreciation of manual work and dignity of labour will be developed through activity based learning, where discipline, persistence, and creativity will be achieved through teamwork and cooperativeness.
  • Its implementation can be done with minimal resources available at the school or community level, as well as can be facilitated by regular teachers from all subjects, thus making it easily replicable at a larger scale.
• This lifecycle-based approach for the student from Upper Primary to Grade 12, helps change the narrative of Vocational Education as “Applied Learning” as well as provides them with much needed “life skills”, thus making them future ready for higher education, employment, or livelihood.

Adaptability

• NEP addresses integration of vocational education into all schools and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to provide mobility between general and Vocational Education.
  • A unified credit accumulation and transfer framework is being devised for integration of academics and Vocational Education, and to facilitate the aforementioned mobility between the two.
  • This will also help Vocational Education become more aspirational and remove the hard separation between the two.

Coverage and Convergence

• Under Samagra Shiksha, new schools are being approved every year for the implementation of Vocational Education, where schools are provided with infrastructure and resources for providing Vocational Education in school premises.
• The Hub and Spoke model is being implemented where schools with requisite infrastructure will act as hubs and provide skill education to the children from surrounding spoke schools.
  • Scheme guidelines provide for additional funds for such Hubs, as well as transportation of children between the hub and its spokes.
• Covid-19 has forced implementers to look for agile solutions mostly enabled by the technology for various components of education including skill education.
• The need spans from availability of solutions, and digital infrastructure to digital capacity of the learners and implementers.
  • AI For All is one of such initiatives which is co-developed with technology partners providing a self-paced online learning programme for AI (Artificial Intelligence) skills.

States’ Capacities

• States and UTs are key partners in implementing Vocational Education in schools
• Currently, various components of Vocational Education are being supported by national agencies/institutions viz.
  • Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), National Skill Development Corporation, Sector Skill Councils, etc.
• Similarly, Capacities of State level institutions like
  • State Council for Vocational Education and Training (SCVET),
  • State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and its subordinate bodies (DIETs)
• These can be developed for identification of locally relevant courses, adoption and/or development of textbooks, reference material, digital learning material, etc., as well as training of vocational trainers or instructors engaged in providing skill education at school level.
• Considering NEP 2020’s focus on the principle of respect for diversity and respect for the local context, it becomes imperative to build States’ capacity in terms of these components.

Significance

• With ever changing socio-economic conditions, Skill Education also needs to keep up the pace and keep it relevant for students, industry, as well as communities. Vocational Education and Training (VET) or Skilling Programmes will be successfully implemented if the supply of skilled manpower matches with the demand in the industry or the world of work. Therefore, it is important to assess the emerging requirements for knowledge and skills and match them through the VET or Skill Programmes.
• The sectors which require a greater focus to meet the skill requirements of the future workforce are IT-ITeS, Renewable Energy/Green Energy, Power, Hospitality, Tourism, Electronics, Green Construction, Sustainable Mining, Green Logistics, Telecom, Green Agriculture, Disposable Plastics, and Chemicals.
• Emerging trends, such as Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and robotic process automation need to be explored besides the 21st century skills.
• Digital skilling should become the core programme of all the skill development activities.
  • Artificially intelligent training delivery systems need to be developed and promoted so that the training can be customised according to the needs of the learner and its outreach be enhanced.
• There is a need to work on Future Skills like Cloud Computing, Coding through Gamification, Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) Operator, Low voltage EV service technician, Telematics data analyst, Drone Technology, Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality (AR-VR).
  • CBSE has already introduced courses like Data Science, Coding, and AI.
• Outcomes of skill education will be seen as students make transition from school to higher education, employment, or livelihoods.
• This transition needs to be enabled by creating awareness among students, industries, and institutions about available pathways, career counselling, and advocacy on vocational skills as an aspirational career pathway.

Conclusion

• As highlighted by the Prime Minister, “Ramping up skills, particularly in trades, through Vocational Education has emerged as a recurrent and increasingly critical priority for India.”
• Hence, the education ecosystem needs to offer skill education in schools that touch various crucial aspects of holistic education and overcome the social status hierarchy associated with Vocational Education.
• India is on its way to implement the key reforms for integrating and mainstreaming vocational education with general education. At the same time, the role of all stakeholders at all levels becomes really crucial for ensuring that children are provided with vocational and life skills required for the 21st century

Source: Yojana (February 2022 Issue)

Mains Question

Q. How does National Education Policy 2020 aims to change the Vocational ecosystem?