Delhi govt schools to include skill courses in 257 more schools under NSQF

As part of efforts to boost vocational education, the Directorate of Education has sanctioned inclusion of Skill and NSQF subjects in 257 additional government schools in Delhi from the ongoing academic year itself, officials confirmed.

The step is a part of the Samagra Shiksha initiative and seeks to provide students with practical, job-oriented skills in addition to their mainstream academic curriculum. According to a May 23 circular, the students of Classes 9 and 11 will be able to avail themselves of various skill-based subjects, and each school would have to provide admission to up to 50 students per subject.

For enabling students to make conscious choices, schools have been instructed to hold counselling sessions delineating the scope and career prospects of the skill courses being introduced. The circular also makes it clear that new admissions in Class 11 will be entertained even if students have not studied the subject in Class 9 or 10.

Pointing to a more flexible education paradigm, the report explained that this is within a flexible, multi-entry and multi-exit framework, and this makes vocational education more accessible. But this is not required of all students to take up skill subjects—schools can provide them as an optional stream.

According to CBSE guidelines, schools don't require individual approvals for offering these subjects. They need to simply modify the concerned information on the CBSE portal.

National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) offers courses under such practical streams as Information Technology, Retail, Healthcare, and Beauty & Wellness—subjects geared to enhance students' employment prospects and equip them with skills to fit real-world careers.