Soon, schools for skill education in 10 dists: Khattar

Gurgaon: In an attempt to implement the KG to PG model prescribed in the New Education Policy and create a pool of skilled professionals, the state government will open innovative skill schools in ten districts, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced during a meeting in Chandigarh on Wednesday.
“The skill development department has submitted a detailed draft related to the skill innovative school and its utility for employment. This innovative experiment will prove to be a milestone in Haryana’s school education,” the chief minister said.
According to the recent approval granted by the state government, innovative skill schools will be developed in 10 districts of the state. These schools will be run by Shri Vishwakarma Skill University (SVSU) and will be recognized by CBSE in the category of innovation. These schools will run on the lines of a feeder skill school started by the varsity in Palwal in 2021.
Besides promoting skill education, these schools will also enroll children who drop out from senior classes to seek casual employment for livelihood. “The skills will be imparted in various fields including IT, automotive, agriculture and textile design, artificial intelligence, beauty & wellness, designing, financial literacy, handicrafts, mass media, health care, physical activity training, food production, and security,” said a senior school education department official.
The vice chancellor of Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Raj Nehru said that the blueprint of these schools has been prepared after mapping the industry needs and the existing and emerging employment trends. In the initial phase, these schools will have classes from six to eight, and later the scope will be enhanced.
“These schools will effectively act as nurseries of vocational education in the country. The outline has been prepared based on the successful run of our feeder school in Palwal. Many children who drop out of school to seek employment will also benefit from these schools. Since these courses are directly linked with employment, it will attract all such children and the overall dropout rate will reduce and total gross enrolment ratio (GER) will also improve,” noted the vice-chancellor. According to the sources, the department is yet to decide upon the 10 districts that will be included in the pilot project.
“We’ll also include some other districts as the government wants non-NCR districts to also leverage from the push to improve skill education in the state,” said an official.