New Delhi:
The national framework on vocational education, unveiled here
Saturday, will train school children in skill development,
providing job opportunities to nearly 150 million who are not able
to access higher education, Human Resource Development Minister
Kapil Sibal said.
"The national vocational education qualification framework (NVQEF)
will meet the requirement of skilled hands for driving industrial
growth. We have a shortage of around five million skilled
workforce in the country," Sibal said.
Of the 200 million students who enroll for Class 1 every year,
only 20 million are able to complete Class 12.
"Sectors like automobile, telecom, and even entertainment have a
huge space between demand and supply of skilled workforce. Today,
the need is to bring vocationally empowered students at par with
those who have paper degrees," Sibal said, adding that there will
be a Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) degree for
vocational education.
Introduced in Class 9, the programme is available to students once
they register with a college approved by All India Council for
Technical Education (AICTE) for a vocational diploma or degree.
The student can also register with any other institute affiliated
to any technical board or university.
"The vocational programme comprises of various levels of
vocational credit from Class 9 onwards. Students after Class 8 can
take up other vocational subjects like carpentering, para-medical,
hospitality, and construction, among others," he added.
The 10-stage certificate-based vocational education allows student
to complete four levels till Class 12, and the remaining six
levels till post-graduation.
While the academic syllabus is yet to be prepared for the next
session, the complete programme will start from 2012.
"The student receiving the vocational training can leave the
programme at any level to join the industry. Our aim was to reach
out to the school drop-outs who are never able to become a part of
the country's skilled workforce," said S.S. Mantha, chairperson
(acting) of the AICTE.
Vocational certificate or diploma or degree will be awarded
depending on the credit levels completed by the student. The areas
covered by programme includes agriculture, construction,
infrastructure, manufacturing, IT, retail and environment.
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