TISS Joins Hands with Schools for Vocational Education

Vinod Kakumanu
April 3, 2023, 2:14 p.m.

To encourage vocational education as per the new National Education Policy NEP 2020, Maharashtra’s School Education department is collaborating with Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). This effort falls under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) of the NEP, and TISS’ School of Vocational Education (SVE) is taking the lead. In the first year of this collaboration, 15000 students from government schools will be connected to various Bachelor of Vocational (BVoc) courses offered at the SVE.

The aim is to divert students towards more employment-oriented vocational courses, rather than the traditional degrees after Class XII, like Arts, Commerce or Science. To achieve this, awareness generation will start at secondary school level at government schools, with the target to increase the total number of students taking admission to BVoc courses with each passing year.

Students also join the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) or diploma courses after Class X, but these are not degrees, whereas BVoc are full degree courses with multiple entry-exit points, higher employment potential, and earn-and-learn opportunities with collaborating industry partners.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), as part of the vision of NEP 2020, is targeting to increase vocational education to 25 percent of all students by 2025. The collaboration with SVE at TISS not just helps increase awareness within students, but also provides a channel for school students to enrol in BVoc courses. There is also flexibility, such that whenever a batch of required number of students is available in a location where an industry player is present to collaborate, the courses can be started there.

There are about 30 different types of BVoc courses being offered in different sectors such as agriculture, automotive, banking, finance, child, healthcare, logistics, tourism, etc. Industry partners are important since course modules have 60 percent of practical training components. Students also receive stipends in many cases, which helps them for payment of fees for the course as well.