To Integrate Skilling into School Curriculum, India will Partner with Singapore

Vinod Kakumanu
May 2, 2023, 11:04 a.m.

In discussions between India and Singapore to be held in the upcoming series of events leading up to the G20 education working group meeting in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, between April 22 and 27, central government officials said that the two nations are planning to collaborate to examine opportunities for the exchange of "best practises" focused on integrating "skilling" and "re-skilling" in school curricula and vocational studies into mainstream education.

One of the key sessions of the conference, according to representatives of the education ministry, will be on school systems and collaboration with the Singaporean government to share "best practises" with one another. These are pre-meeting activities before the third education working group meeting, based on the theme "Future of Work." Based on the theme ‘Foundational Numeracy and Literacy (FLN)’, the fourth and the final working group meeting is scheduled in Pune between June 19 and 21.

Sanjay Kumar (secretary, school education) stated, “We will be having a workshop with representatives of the Singapore government on April 25 where the breakout session would be the ‘integration of skills into school education curriculum’. Though we have been doing it under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) as an optional subject for classes 9 and 10, and as a compulsory subject for classes 10 and 11, now with the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, we have to introduce skilling from class 6 onwards,”

As per the NEP highlights, a defined action plan with goals and deadlines will be created to ensure that by 2025, at least 50% of students in the school and higher education systems will have access to vocational education. Atul K Tiwari, secretary of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) noted that the topics up for consideration would also include giving students a variety of future skills to get them started on a path of lifelong learning.

IIT Bhubaneswar, IIM Sambalpur, Central University, NIT, IMMT Bhubaneswar, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, Deloitte, CII, and USIBC are a few of the universities and industry partners that are working together to conduct the precursor events. Additionally, a food festival showcasing tribal millets and regional cuisines will be organised for G20 delegates and participants as 2023 is the "International Year of Millets."