J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha launched 607 online vocational training labs, an educational portal and a GIS portal developed by Samagra Shiksha with the aim of strengthening the vocational education ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lieutenant Governor noted that important elements of the new education policy have been launched in Jammu and Kashmir, which will lay a solid foundation for employment-oriented education for youth.
According to NEP-2020, the focus in vocational education is to allow students to be job providers rather than job seekers, he said, according to an official statement.
“Comprehensive steps are being taken with the goal of improving the quality of education and securing the future of young people by closing the gap between schools and industry while taking into account the skill requirements of modern times,” said the lieutenant governor.
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Sinha stressed the need to integrate new skill sets, innovative activities and professional training into the school’s curriculum to ensure a better relationship between industry and university.
Highlighting the main benefits of vocational education, the lieutenant governor said that his goal is to reform the entire school education ecosystem and can go a long way in helping young people navigate the changing dynamics and trends of the job market.
Giving a detailed report on the measures taken to promote vocational education to J-K, BK Singh, secretary of school education, said that vocational education had been introduced in 715 public schools with a total enrollment of 44,000.
Vocational education is provided in 14 vocational trades through vocational training partners provided by the National Skills Development Corporation.
He said that the tradition of the teaching and learning process at JK is of supreme quality and even in the time of COVID, a large number of students and teachers have continued their training through online modality and community courses.
In addition, he reported that a special campaign would be launched from March 2021 to increase enrollment in schools.
Dr. Arun Manhas, Project Director, Samagra Shiksha reported that the GIS portal has been developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology, to identify the geographic location of educational institutions and underserved homes.
The portal will be used as a GIS tool to display infrastructure details, enrollment details, ICT facilities, smart classrooms, professional labs, and resource rooms.
