Nep 2020 Goals For Vocational Education – Progress On The Ground

By Author: Chaitanya Kumari
Total Articles: 231
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While academic subjects are important, vocational learning can be a powerful tool for millions of underprivileged people in this country. India has been trying to implement progressive educational reforms for the masses for quite some time now. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has been a most imperative step in that direction. The NEP 2020 puts great emphasis on vocational education, which has unfortunately been underestimated in this country for decades.

NEP 2020 is focused on integrating hands-on learning experience and skill development along with industry exposure to make sure that people benefit in multiple ways through effective vocational training. As the implementation of this policy is about to end its 5th year, it is time to evaluate and ponder how much of its goals have led to actual progress on the ground level scenario.

NEP 2020’s vision for vocational education
NEP 2020 emphasized multiple transformative steps for vocational education in India:
• By effectively implementing it from the 6th Standard through activities, practical projects, and internships, it arranged mainstream ...
... vocational education.
• Make sure that at least about fifty percent of students take part in vocational education by the year 2025.
• Effectively narrow the gap between skills or knowledge and employability through the smart alignment of curriculum with the current needs of the industry.
• Promote local skills, traditional crafts, and region-specific employment by enabling engagement within the community and the school.
• Improve overall vocational infrastructure by enhancing ITI upgrades, apprenticeship programs, skill labs, and comprehensive partnerships with the industry.
• Build flexible pathways to *impeccably blend academic and vocational channels under the National Credit Framework (NcrF).

The underlying goal was to make education and learning relevant for real-world applications and not just test scores, so that people can easily find employment and focus on building a better life.

Ground-level progress for NEP 2020

Introduction of vocational modules in schools
MULTIPLE CBSE, Kendriya Vidyalaya, and state board schools have come up with vocational subjects, such as carpentry, retail, coding, agriculture, beauty and wellness, and electronics, starting from middle school onwards. Schools in states like Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu were assisted by the Samagra Shiksha scheme to adopt vocational training.

Expansion of skill labs and ITI modernization
As ITI modernization was accelerated in multiple states, it led to the implementation of better equipment, upgraded training methods, and industry partnerships. Polytechnics and skill labs have benefited from greater investments through several state and central programs. However, colleges in rural areas still lack adequately trained vocational trainers, sustained funding, and equipment. Numerous schools in these areas rely on part-time trainers or keep changing their vocational instructors.

Growing industry collaboration
Businesses in sectors like retail, logistics, electronics, and healthcare have partnered with universities to give rise to new apprenticeship programs. Some companies even provide paid internships that offer real workplace exposure to pupils.
Awareness around the standing of vocational education has augmented a lot over the last few years. But there are still encounters like rural infrastructure gaps, varying state-level commitment, shortage of teachers, and societal attitudes that prevent the full-on integration of vocational skills with academic degrees.

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