Lok Sabha Question No. 2068 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-19
Subject: Vocational Education
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Balubhau (Alias Suresh Narayan) Dhanorkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2068 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2022

## Vocational Education

## †2068. SHRI BALUBHAU ALIAS SURESH NARAYAN DHANORKAR:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government has taken any  decision  to  provide vocational  education  to  the youth;
- (b)  if  so,  whether  any  action  plan  has  been  chalked  out  regarding  the  proposed  vocational education;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has held discussions with Indian industrial units for vocational education and employment generation through education at the national level; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## (SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)

- (a)  to (c): There are various steps being taken by the government to provide Vocational Education to the youth. Some of the major steps are as follows:
- i. The Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing the initiative of Vocationalisation of School Education under the umbrella of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme  'Samagra  Shiksha'.  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 the Scheme, National Skill Qualification Framework  (NSQF)  compliant  vocational  courses  are  offered  to  the  students  from class 9 th to 12 th in the schools covered under the scheme. 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  National  Education  Policy  (NEP)  2020  has  given  special  emphasis  on vocational education and skill development. Integration of vocational education with general education and mainstreaming of vocational education have been identified as the  key  reforms  in  the  education  system  of  the  country.  In  order  to  fulfil  various objectives of NEP, the existing scheme of Samagra Shiksha has been revamped and various new interventions relating to Vocational Education have been incorporated. Some of them are as under:

- Coverage of Vocational Education has been expanded to cover Government aided schools also in addition to Government Schools.
- Hub and Spoke Model of Vocational Education has been introduced providing for  the  utilization  of  the  infrastructure  available  in  the  Hub  schools  by  the students of nearby schools (spoke schools) for vocational training.
- Exposure of pre-vocational education at Upper Primary level.
- Internships, bagless days etc. have been included under Innovation component of Samagra Shiksha.
- ii. The University Grants Commission has taken initiatives to facilitate higher education institutions  across  the  country  to  provide  skill-based  education  under  NSQF.   The institutions have been allowed to offer full-time, credit-based programmes at the level of  Certificate,  Diploma,  Advanced  Diploma,  B.  Voc,  P.G.  Diploma,  M.  Voc.  and Research  with  multiple  entry  and  exit  options.  The  curriculum  in  each  of  the semester/year  of  the  programme(s)  is  a  suitable  mix  of  general  education  and  skill development components.

UGC  issued  the  Guidelines for  Higher  Education Institutions to offer Internship / Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programmes in the year 2020. As per these Guidelines any UG degree programme in any discipline, as specified by UGC under Section 22 (3) of the UGC Act, 1956, is eligible to embed apprenticeship/internship into the degree programme. While UGC's programmes for skill-based  education  emphasize  on  developing  skilled  workforce  with  vocational education, the emphasis on Internship / Apprenticeship is to improve the employability of students in the general stream.

UGC  has  published  Curriculum  and  Credit  Framework  in  Undergraduate Programmes  in  accordance  to  the  above  objective.   The  curricular  components  of undergraduate  programmes  in  the  revised  format  prescribes  minimum  credits  for various components which includes among other things a 2-4 credit internship, a 12 credit minor in vocational course, a 4 credit vocational exit course for those who exit after  1st/2nd  year,  community  engagement  and  service  etc.   The  aim  for  including vocational  courses  is  to  provide  a  holistic  education  and  also  to  enhance  the employability of graduates. The curriculum also provides students ample opportunities for internships with local industries, businesses, artists, crafts persons, etc.   In  addition,  UGC is  part  of  the  committee which developed the draft National Credit Framework.  National Credit Framework is a comprehensive framework that enables seamless integration of academic learning, vocational learning and experiential learning.  This framework enables mobility from vocational education to general education and vice versa.

- iii. All  India  Council  for  Technical  Education  (AICTE)  has  brought  out  flexibility  in eligibility criteria for admission in engineering  courses in order to integrate skilling courses. It allows candidates having one of the vocational subjects as recognized by CBSE/State  Education  Boards/  or  having  B.  Voc.  in  specialized  domain,  for admission  through  lateral  entry  into  2 nd year  of  B.  Tech.  Programme  in  AICTEapproved Institutions. AICTE has launched Kaushal Augmentation and Restructuring Mission of AICTE (KARMA) Scheme for AICTE approved Institutions and centrally funded  Technical  Institutions.  Under  this  scheme  Institutions  are  approved  for providing Skill training as per NSQF to School Drop Outs, Students  pursuing their degree/Diploma and to willing School students of CBSE, State Boards in the vicinity of  Institutions.  Till  February  2022  more  than  1000  institutions  have  registered  on KARMA portal.
- iv. Ministry  of  Skill  Development  and  Entrepreneurship  (MSDE)  is  providing  Long Term  Skill  Training  through  14,953  Industrial  Training  Institutes  (ITIs)  and  under Short-Term Skill training through various schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas  Yojana  (PMKVY)  (through  721  Pradhan  Mantri  Kaushal  Kendra  (PMKK) established  across  631  districts,  Jan  Shikshan  Sansthan  (JSS)  (through  286  Jan Shikshan Sansthan), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) etc.
- v. Ministry  of  Skill  development  and  Entrepreneurship  (MSDE)  in  co-ordination  with Ministry  of  Education  has  launched  the  Skill  Hubs  Initiative  (SHI)  as  a  pilot  on 01.01.2022  under  central  component  of  Pradhan  Mantri  Kaushal  Vikas  Yojana  3.0 (PMKVY 3.0). SHI is the integration and mainstreaming of vocational education with general education as has been envisaged under the National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP, 2020). Skill Hubs are nodal skill centres identified to provide skill development and vocational training opportunities to drop-outs and out of education candidates.
- vi. MoSDE has taken various steps to align the training under PMKVY, with the industry requirements to increase the participation of the candidates. Under PMKVY, training is  provided  to  candidates  as  per  the  skilling  demand  of  industry.  Ministry  through National  Skill  Development  Council  (NSDC)  has  facilitated  the  setting  up  of  37 Sector  Skill  Councils  (SSCs)  as  autonomous  industry  led  bodies  to  develop  Nation Skill  Qualification  Framework  (NSQF)  aligned  job  roles  and  courses  curriculum, conduct skill gap studies and assess and certify trainees.

(d)  &  (e):  The  Ministry  of  Skill  Development  and  Entrepreneurship  (MoSDE)  and  the Ministry  of  Micro,  Small,  and  Medium  Enterprises  (MSME)  are  organizing  consultation meetings,  seminars,  conferences,  summits,  and  workshops  with  the  industry  associations, such as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Associated Chambers  of  Commerce  and  Industry  of  India  (ASSOCHAM),  Confederation  of  Indian Industry (CII) and various other representatives of industries, such as Sector Skill Councils (SSC),  National  Association  of  Software  and  Service  Companies  (NASSCOM),  etc.  for creating  and  sustaining  a  skill  ecosystem  and  implementation  of  various  schemes  and programmes for skilling children, youth and adults.

AICTE has been in continuous touch with all the Sector Skill Councils pertaining to Skill  Development  Training  in  different  upcoming  fields  and  sectors.  AICTE  has  also conducted various webinars with SSCs, AICTE  approved  institutes, PAN  India  for highlighting the upcoming job roles and futuristic emerging areas for employment.

The  consultative  process  involved  in  the  finalization  of  Curriculum  and  Credit Framework for UG Programmes includes inviting comments from stakeholders by placing the  document  on  the  UGC  website.    In  addition  to  seeking  feedback/suggestions  from  all Universities  and  colleges  across  the  country  on  the  draft  document,  UGC  also  invited feedback  from  all  IITs,  NITs,  IISERs,  Industry  bodies  such  as  ASSOCHAM,  FICCI, NASSCOM, CII etc. on the curriculum framework. Their suggestions were considered before finalizing the curriculum and credit framework for undergraduate programmes.

Under the scheme of Samagra Shiksha, vocational courses are offered / developed in consultation with the Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) and the representative bodies of industry. 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.

***