NEP: Existing vocational courses to be replaced for Class 11 from next yr

MUMBAI: As part of the National Education Policy (NEP), existing vocational courses in the state will be replaced by new ones from the 2024-25 academic year for Class 11 students.

A government resolution issued by the state skill, employment and entrepreneurship department on Tuesday directed all government and private colleges offering vocational courses to apply for permissions to the directorate of vocational education and training.

The syllabus for 13 courses in the technical, commerce and agricultural sector have been developed by the PSS Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), Bhopal. Electrical maintenance courses will be replaced by field technician and lineman distribution courses.

A course in junior software developer and field technician will be offered instead of computer science. Banking, office management, marketing salesmanship and small industries and self-employment courses will be replaced by business facilitator and distributor salesman courses. Technical, commerce, agricultural and fisheries courses, last revised in 1979-80, have been changed in line with NEP’s National Skills Qualifications Framework. Vocational courses were introduced in the state in 1978-79 in six groups—technical, commerce, agriculture, home science, fisheries and paramedical. Over 1,035 colleges offer these to 1 lakh students.