607 vocational labs launched by J&K LG Manoj Sinha

Jammu, Feb 20: Taking a leap towards strengthening the vocational education ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday virtually inaugurated 607 vocational labs, a vocational education portal and a GIS portal.

The Lt Governor stressed on the need to incorporate new skill sets, innovative activities and vocational training into the school education curriculum.

Speaking on the occasion, Sinha said important features of the new educational policy initiated in J&K will pave a strong foundation for job-oriented education. The emphasis on vocational education, as per NEP-2020, is to enable students to be job providers, instead of job seekers, he added.

"Comprehensive measures are being taken with an aim to improve the quality of education and secure the future of youth by bridging the gap between schools and the industry, keeping in mind the skill-set demands of the modern times," the Lt Governor said.

Highlighting the key benefits of vocational education, Sinha said it aims to overhaul the entire ecosystem of school education and can go a long way in helping the youth orient themselves to the changing dynamics of job-market trends.

The Lt Governor observed that all possibilities would be explored to develop vocational education in J&K through a collaborated effort with schools and higher institutions of skill development.

Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lt Governor, said vocational education would play a great role in developing the required skill set in a variety of trades from an early age among the students.

He emphasized on rationalising the infrastructural and human resources in the school education department.

Bhatnagar informed that the Vocational Education Portal has been developed to monitor and supervise, assess and evaluate progress of students and vocational training partners, besides maintaining a database of passed out students.

He said a special drive will be started from March 2021 to increase enrolment in schools.

Dr Arun Manhas, Project Director, Samagra Shiksha informed that the GIS Portal has been developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology to identify geographical locations of educational institutions and un-served habitations.

The portal is to be used as an MIS tool for viewing infrastructure details, enrolment details, ICT facilities, smart classroom facilities, vocational labs and resource rooms, he added.