According to nep-2020, what percentage of learners shall have exposure to vocational education by 2025?

India is home to the largest youth population in the world. Our government has always been of the view that our youth shall steer India on the path of development. Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said, “The more we give importance to skill development, the more competent will be our youth.” In a bid to transform the skills development ecosystem in the country, our government took needful measures. The National Skill Development Policy of 2009 was revamped in 2015 as per the changing demands of the time. The Skill India Mission was launched in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making India the ‘skill capital’ of the world.Even while formulating the new National Education Policy, we have made relentless efforts to integrate vocational education in the mainstream. It was a moment of delight for me as I got apprised that UNESCO has come up with the ‘State of the Education Report for India 2020’ which also gives a strong impetus to the implementation of ideas proposed in the NEP in this regard. The policy proposes that by 2025, at least 50% of learners through the school and higher education system shall have the exposure to vocational education, for which a clear action plan with targets and timelines will be developed. The focus areas of vocational education will be based on skills gap analysis and mapping of local opportunities. A National Committee for the Integration of Vocational Education (NCIVE) will be established to oversee this effor...

Education is the key to achieve full human potential, developing and promoting national development. Granting unlimited access to quality education is the solution for continued growth in economics, social justice and equality, scientific advancement, national integration, and cultural preservation. At the same time, the need for a skilled workforce is increasing in greater demand. Vocational training is the instructional program that prepares one for an occupation that requires a specialized skill, such as a technician, artisan or tradesperson. It may involve imparting classroom instructions, hands-on training or a combination of both. Secondary and higher secondary education in India usually includes one or two vocational subjects. Still, real vocational training is imparted outside the formal education system and it often leads to a certification or a diploma. One may also undergo vocational training directly as an apprentice or a trainee with or without any formal qualification. Initial Vocational Education and Training prepares young men and women with the relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes to successfully enter the world of work or continue higher education. It is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. It is sometimes referred to as career and technical education. With the roll-out of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, vocational education has garnered the ...

The National education policy or NEP is basically an inclusive framework to moderate the enhancement of the academic curriculum of the country. The entire education system of this nation ranging from elementary education to universities both in rural and urban India comes under the purview of this scheme. The need for this policy was first felt in 1964 on the wake of criticism of the Govt by then Congress MP Siddheshwar Prasad for lacking a vision and philosophy for the education system. A 17-member Education Commission, headed by then UGC Chairperson D S Kothari, was constituted in that very year to draft a national and coordinated policy regarding education. Thus, Parliament passed the first education policy in 1968 emphasizing the recommendations provided by the Kothari Commission. Following that, The Rajiv Gandhi led govt in 1986 to introduce the 2nd National education policy. The NEP of 1986 was revised in 1992 by the Narsimha Rao Government. On 29th July 2020, the cabinet of the incumbent government approved a new National Education Policy with an aim to introduce several changes to the existing Indian education system. The policy states that the current school education structure of 10+2 (covering children from the age of 6-18) will be discontinued and be replaced by a more fragmented 5+3+3+4 system which would work as follows- • Three years of Anganwadi or preschool + two years in a primary school in grades 1-2 covering ages 3 to 8 years. • The ‘preparatory stage’ ...

Authored by – Shubhangi Raman Edited by – Kavita Majumdar CONTEXT With the roll-out of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, vocational education has garnered the required spotlight. The NEP 2020 is a comprehensive policy document that extensively discusses the revamping of vocational education. The policy focuses on bringing vocational education into mainstream education, as recommended by successive commissions on education over the years. The Kothari Commission report of 1966 was one of the earliest to emphasise diversifying the curriculum at higher secondary levels through vocational courses [1]. Later, the National Education Policy, 1986, focused on improving the organisational and management structure of vocational education. It recommended vocationalisation, both at secondary and higher education levels, by introducing Socially Useful Productive Work (SUPW) as a separate subject in secondary classes and vocational degree courses at higher education level [2]. Yet, the vocational education space, over the years, has witnessed a painfully slow and stagnant growth. An assessment by the National Institute of Open Schooling highlights that only 2% of the total population in between 15-29 years of age have received formal vocational training, and only 8% have received non-formal vocational training [3]. Even the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012–2017) estimates indicate that fewer than 5% of the Indian workforce between the age of 19-24 received formal vocational education [4...