J-K Lt Governor inaugurates 607 vocational labs, education portal and GIS portal

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday e-inaugurated 607 vocational labs, education portal and GIS Portal developed by Samagra Shiksha in a bid to strengthen the vocational education ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor observed that important features of New Educational Policy have been initiated in Jammu and Kashmir which will pave a strong foundation for job-oriented education for the youth.

The emphasis on vocational education, as per NEP-2020, is to enable students to be job providers instead of job seekers, he said, according to an official release.

"Comprehensive measures are being taken with an aim to improve the quality of education and secure the future of youth by bridging the gap between schools and industry keeping in mind the skill-set demands of the modern times", said the Lt Governor.

Sinha stressed on the need to incorporate new skill sets, innovative activities, and vocational training into the school education curriculum to ensure a greater industry-academic relationship.

Highlighting the key benefits of vocational education, the Lt Governor said it aims to overhaul the entire ecosystem of school education and can go a long way to help the youth orient themselves to the changing dynamics of job-market trends.

Giving a detailed briefing of the measures taken to promote vocational education in J-K, BK Singh, Secretary, School Education said that vocational education has been introduced in 715 government schools with a total enrolment of 44,000.

Vocational education is being provided in 14 vocational trades through vocational training partners provided by National Skill Development Corporation.

He said that the tradition of the teaching and learning process in J-K is of supreme quality and even during the COVID times, a large number of students and teachers continued their education through the online mode and community classes.

He further informed that a special drive will be started from March 2021 to increase enrolment in schools.

Dr Arun Manhas, project director, Samagra Shiksha informed that GIS Portal has been developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology, to identify the geographical location of educational institutions and un-served habitations.

The Portal is to be used as an MIS tool for viewing infrastructure details, enrolment details, ICT facilities, smart classroom facilities, vocational labs and resource rooms.