Govt to introduce vocational edu degrees, signs MoU with TISS

Mumbai: To encourage vocational education in line with the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Maharashtra school education department under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has signed an MoU with the School of Vocational Education (SVE) at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to provide various Bachelor of Vocational (B

Mumbai: To encourage vocational education in line with the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Maharashtra school education department under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has signed an MoU with the School of Vocational Education (SVE) at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to provide various Bachelor of Vocational (B.Voc.) courses to 15,000 students from government schools. The courses will be offered at SVE during the first year of the collaboration.

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According to school education department officials, the idea is to divert students, who mostly think of arts, commerce and science degrees, towards B.Voc. courses which are more employment-oriented. “Awareness about these will be created at the secondary school level, as students will be eligible for these courses after passing Class XII,” said an official.

“Several students tend to join skill training after Class 10,” said state project director Kailas Pagare. “The B.Voc. courses are designed to give them better job opportunities.” The degree courses will not only guarantee employment but also provide students with earn-and-learn opportunities, as they are run in collaboration with industry partners.

The department plans to increase the total number of seats in these courses every year. “Our vision is for 25 percent of Class XII students to opt for vocational education by 2025,” said the official. “These courses can run anywhere as long as a batch of the required number of students is formed in one location where an industry player too is ready to collaborate.”

Prof Madhushree Sekher, SVE dean at TISS, said, “We have over 30 different types of B.Voc. courses in sectors as varied as agriculture, banking and finance, and tourism and hospitality among others. All these courses are run with industry partners, as the course module has 60 percent practical training components. In many cases, students also receive a stipend as they learn on the job which also helps them pay their fees.”

Talking about the importance of such a collaboration, Prof Sekher said, “B.Voc. degrees are available in different institutes but students don’t aspire to pursue them, as they are not widely recognised or mentioned as an eligibility criterion to apply for any kind of job. This will educate schoolchildren about the benefits of pursuing a B.Voc. degree.” The SSA also plans to bring aspirational value to B.Voc. degrees, as it has started communication with the higher education department regarding this.