The Ministry of Education and Skill Development (MoESD) is slated to hold deliberations on introducing skill development in school curriculum in partnership with the Singapore government on April 25, in a precursory event to the Third G20 Education Working Group Meeting in Bhubaneswar. The meeting will hold deliberations on the Future of Work. “We plan to introduce vocational education and skill development at grade six onwards under which hands-on experience of sampling the importance of vocational craft will be taught in a joyful way,” Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said in a press conference on Monday.
The Ministry further plans to create Skill-Ups wherein one school will act as a hub and other schools will follow the league. Currently, the Ministry is in the process of introducing this module. Furthermore, drawing from the third round of G20 deliberations, the Fourth Education Working Group Meeting scheduled to be held in Pune will focus on the theme Foundational Numeracy and Literacy. “The most important part of operationalising the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is to introduce FNL in the most consulted manner. This will serve as a bedrock for life long skilling to happen,” Kumar added.
NEP 2020 aims to up-skill at least 50% of learners in schools and higher education systems by 2025. The upcoming G20 meeting in Bhubaneswar is a step towards deliberating on how to achieve this goal, the Ministry said. The idea is to learn from the examples of both the countries and come up with a national plan suitable for India, Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, MoESD, said.
The Singapore government has already introduced vocational education and skilling in their school component. Meanwhile, under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan currently grades 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th receive vocational education India. For grades 9th and 10th vocational education is optional while for grades 11th and 12th it is compulsory.