The Government of India came up with a revised National Policy for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship in 2015 and, in pursuance of the policy, introduced the Skill India Mission comprising skilling schemes of all Ministries/Departments. Under Skill India Mission,more than 20 Central Ministries/Departments are implementing Skill Development Schemes/Programmes to enhance skill levels of millions of people on pan India basis through which 556.1 lakh persons have been trained since 2015.
Under Skill India Mission, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has been delivering skills through various schemes viz. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Sikhshan Sansthan (JSS), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) and Craftsman Training Scheme (CTS) through Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), to youths across the country. Apart from MSDE, youth also getting skill training through 3 major skilling schemes of the other Ministries, viz. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojna (DDU-GKY) and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) implemented by Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojna- National Urban Livelihood Mission (DAY-NULM) by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). These programmes are run as per Common Norms as decided by the empowered committee. The National Council of Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) has been established as the regulator in the field and they are tasked with coming with National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) for standardising skill training in the country.
The Ministry does not have any scheme to set up Skill University in the State. However, the Ministry has encouraged States to open Skill Universities with an objective to promote skills education in an integrated and holistic manner with general education so as to ensure pathways for progression and mobility across forms of education and skill. The State Government themselves may set up Skill Universities through State Act as it has been done by States like Haryana and Rajasthan.
The Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education is implementing the component of Vocationalisation of School Education under the umbrella of SamagraShiksha – an integrated scheme for school education’, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The scheme aims at integrating Vocational Education with general academic education in all Secondary/Senior Secondary schools; enhancing the Employability and Entrepreneurial abilities of the students, providing exposure to work environment; and generating awareness amongst students about various career options so as to enable them to make a choice in accordance with their aptitude, competence and aspirations. The scheme covers Government and Government aided schools.
Under Vocational Education component of *SamagraShiksha*, NSQF compliant vocational courses are offered to the students from class 9th to 12th in the schools covered under the scheme. Employability Skill module has been made a mandatory part of the vocational Courses. It consists of Communication Skills, Self-Management Skills, Information and Communication Technology Skills, Entrepreneurship Skills and Green Skills.
Till March 2021, names of 12,813 schools have been approved under the scheme out of which the scheme has so far been implemented in 11,710 schools with the reported enrolment of 15,63,319 students. For the year 2021-22, names of 1622 new schools have been approved for Vocational Education under SamagraShiksha taking the total number of schools approved for implementing the scheme to 14,435 schools.
Vocational Education has completely been integrated with general academic education. Vocational courses are taught to the students from class 9th to 12th. At the secondary level i.e. Class IX and X, vocational modules are offered to the students as an additional subject. At Sr. Secondary level, i.e. Class XI and XII, vocational courses are offered as a compulsory (elective) subject. The State Governments have also been advised that Vocational courses are to be treated at par with other academic subjects and accorded a similar status in the scheme of subjects.
After completing VE in schools, the students have the option to opt for vocational courses in ITIs/ Polytechnics /B. Voc colleges or opt for academic courses or consider self-employment depending upon their aspirations and needs. The existing system of integration of vocational education with general education under Samagra Shiksha provides for flexibility to students to choose for vocational path as per their interest and aspirations
To mainstream vocational education, enable sharing of infrastructure and developing well-defined pathways for students to continue with their chosen academic-vocational pursuits, a scheme of creation of Skill Hubs across the education and skill ecosystem has been proposed by MSDE to actualize the intent of the National Education Policy (NEP) on the ground. The implementation of the initiative shall ensure broad-based convergence of vocational education with formal education in a phased manner. The ‘Skill Hub Initiative’ under the PMKVY 3.0 scheme focuses on the introduction of skill training programmes in the education ecosystems. The initiative would consider the policy level synergy on integration of vocational education with general education as envisioned in the NEP 2020.
For spread of entrepreneurship amongst the students from their school life itself, The National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) has written books on entrepreneurship for CBSE class IX to Class XII.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
