This one’s for the bright and talented

You are talented but not too keen on academics? In that case you might want to take a look at the latest initiative by the Delhi government, reports HT Corespondent.

You are talented but not too keen on academics? In that case you might want to take a look at the latest initiative by the Delhi government.

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In a bid to link academics with employability, the education department announced the introduction of free
professional training for Class X and XII students of government schools in the Capital.

The department has identified 13 trades in which students will be trained. Automotive repair, tailoring, basic electronic repair, beauty culture and videography are among the courses on offer.

But there’s more to the initiative than just improving employability.
An average of 15 per cent government school students fail their board exams every year. The professional training is aimed at increasing career options for such children.

“We want these courses to counter poor performance related stress at the time of board results,” said Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely.

“The initiative is aimed at honing industry skills of students who are not academically brilliant.” The programme, which is covered under the Prime Minister's Skill Development Mission, will benefit close to 30,000 students.

The duration of the courses varies from anything between 80 to 270 hours. “Even our ex-students are entitled to avail this training. We will be running these courses in more than 100 schools in Delhi,” said Education Secretary Rina Ray.

For Medha Matta (17), a student of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Roop Nagar (Number 1), it was the nationally and internationally recognized certification that convinced her to get enrolled with the month-long beauty culture course.

“The course is certified by the Ministry of Labour and this gives it an edge over all other vocational courses offered by several institutions,” said Matta.

“And the training is free.”