After the Plus Two courses became part of school education, the School & Mass Education (S&ME) Department is now planning to open the courses in all the high schools within five years by winding up the junior colleges.
According to the Union Ministry of Human Resources Department’s (HRD) guidelines, the Plus Two courses will be merged with the school education. After clearing matriculation examination, a students will pursue Classes-XI and XII in high schools. They will get admission into Plus Three courses in degree colleges after qualifying the Plus Two from high schools.
With the change in Central guidelines, the existing Plus Two junior colleges will be closed. The students will be taught in high school. The Government will appoint lecturers for the Plus Two courses in schools. The classes for the courses will be taken in each high school of 314 blocks in the 2018-19 academic session.
In view of the new HRD rules, Class-VIII has been excluded from high schools from this academic session. High school will only have Classes-IX and X students.
Meanwhile, the students are being provided education in vocational courses in 208 high schools after appointment of special teachers. The Government has begun a process to open vocational courses in more high schools from this year.
A pilot project will be prepared to design the Plus Two courses in the streams of science, arts, commerce and vocation education in high schools. The Government is planning to implement the project in the 2018-19 academic session.
In the first phase, it has been decided to develop the infrastructure to commence the Plus Two courses in one high school in each block. Necessary initiative would be taken to construct adequate classrooms, appoint PG teachers and set up libraries, laboratories and rooms for practical classes. The list of schools where the Plus Two courses would be opened is in a final stage, said Higher Secondary Education Director Sundarlal Seal.
The Plus Two courses would be opened in all the high schools in the State by the 2022-23 academic session, for which a blueprint has already been prepared. Accordingly, some of the high schools would be included under this system every year.
All the high schools would start introducing the Plus Two courses within five years. With the commencement of the Plus Two courses in high schools, the existing lecturers in junior colleges would be appointed in degree colleges, he said.
Meanwhile, the Plus Two courses have been introduced in high schools in the States including Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat. The remaining States are going to implement the system from this academic session.