Punjab Government is contemplating to introduce vocational education in 527 new schools. Presently vocational education is being imparted in 400 schools. The proposal in this regard is ready to be sent to National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema said vocational education was started to make the student self-reliant and to equip them with the demands of the contemporary industry. He said presently 15599 students are getting vocational education in 400 school of the State.
Cheema said that the department has forwarded a proposal to start vocational education courses in new 527 schools from the academic session 2016-17. He said that during the session 2014-15, the department, after implementing the vocational education in 100 schools, proposed new schools for vocational education and NSDC approved 300 more schools.
The Education Minister said that if the proposal is approved, then the total schools with vocational education courses would exceed more than 900 and the number of student would also be increased up to 45,000. He said that for providing the practical training laboratories have been set up with the cost of Rs7.82 crore. Similarly, 796 trained subject experts are imparting vocational education to the students.
Cheema said new courses have been introduced in keeping with the demands of the emerging trends in modern industrial sector. This has been done to ensure adequate employment avenues to the senior secondary pass-outs in these new disciplines.
During the first year, subject concerning Security, Beauty and Wellness, Healthcare, Information Technology, Automobile, Retail were introduced in 100 schools, while during second year 3 new courses of Agriculture, Tour & Travels and Physical Education were introduced in 300 new schools. Now, during third year the number of courses in new schools are proposed to be increased to 10 with Apron and Construction (Civil) being the new courses, the proposal regarding which has been sent for approval.
In accordance with the MoU signed by Education Department with NSDC, the students from 9th till 12th standard study these vocational courses as a subject along with the regular curriculum and after 4 years on qualifying 12th standard examination, these students would get a certificate from Human Resources Development Ministry, which would be equivalent to the ITI certificate.