The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will be introducing vocational subjects required by the industry at the Plus Two level in a phased manner to equip students for employment, CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly said on Friday.
The course would be known as professional competency education or occupational oriented education and some of them have been identified so far, said Ganguly while addressing the principals of several schools affiliated to the CBSE.
The subjects could range from healthcare, fashion and garment technology, BPO call centre courses to financial management transactions, he said. "We are interacting with people who are helping us in designing the courses and syllabus," Ganguly said.
The CBSE chairman said hands-on experience would be imparted to the students and they would go to the industry for practical training for which the help of the industry would be sought.
The certificates would be issued after a joint evaluation by the CBSE and the industry, Ganguly added. The cooperation of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and FICCI was being sought in the matter, he said, adding that if successful, the same would be replicated.
The vocational course would be split into two broad semesters of one year each. Ganguly said some new subjects would also be introduced at the Plus Two level including creative writing, gender studies, media studies, visual art, graphics and heritage craft.
These would be offered as optional elective subjects over a three year period commencing from the current year. Ganguly said the CBSE would introduce grading system in the evaluation process with five point grading upto class V, seven point grading upto class VII and nine point for classes IX and X.
The grading system for class IX would be introduced this year and for class X in 2008. The model has been identified and will be announced within a fortnight or so. The grading will be a mix of percentage and fixed cut-off system and also have numerical value, he said.