For students in four Ludhiana government schools, vocational education is no longer confined to classrooms. Through Punjab’s Hunar Sikhya pilot, Class 11 students are being trained in specialised trades, given exposure to industry through internships and offered opportunities to secure employment after Class 12.
The pilot has been rolled out in four government schools in the district — Government Model Senior Secondary Schools at PAU, Dhandari Khurd and Hambran, and the government girls’ school at Sahnewal. Each school offers two specialised trades aimed at developing skills relevant to industry.
At Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU, students of the digital design and development trade underwent internships in June. Teacher Jatin Arora said 15 students had subsequently secured direct placements. “The aim is to help students get jobs immediately after Class 12,” he said. Arora, however, said students enrolled in Hunar Sikhya no longer had the option of lateral entry into undergraduate courses, describing it as a drawback of the programme.
The vocational training also includes practical work in specialised laboratories.
Teacher Prabhlivtar Kaur said the facilities had given students hands-on exposure to their respective trades. She said that students were counselled before admission, but suggested that representatives of the private organisation managing the programme should also conduct counselling before the academic session begins.
{{/usCountry}}Teacher Prabhlivtar Kaur said the facilities had given students hands-on exposure to their respective trades. She said that students were counselled before admission, but suggested that representatives of the private organisation managing the programme should also conduct counselling before the academic session begins.
{{/usCountry}}The training has also led students to develop projects based on everyday needs. Two Class 12 students of the PAU school, Krishna and Shivam, have developed an app as part of their Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) trade.
The app explains basic banking procedures, including making cheque payments, applying for loans and calculating equated monthly instalments (EMIs). Krishna said it was intended to help students and their parents understand routine banking operations.
“My father is a security guard and my mother works as a peon. Through this programme, we have developed an app that can help students and their parents manage banking operations,” he said.
The students said the app was ready but they had not been able to launch it publicly because of financial constraints.