CBSE has recently sent a circular to its affiliated schools asking them to set up ‘Composite Skill Labs’.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mysuru: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has recently sent a circular to its affiliated schools asking them to set up ‘Composite Skill Labs’.
The letter by Biswajit Saha, Director (Skill Education), CBSE, on August 23, states, “As the National Education Policy (NEP) - 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) focus on enhancing Skill Education, particularly for students in classes VI to X, NCF-SE advocates inclusion of skill subjects, as an integral part of the curriculum, by including it as a mandatory subject of study, from class VI onwards”.
Reacting on the development, the principal of a Mysuru-based school said motivating teachers to facilitate the skills among the students is a challenge.
Mandatory subject
K G Mathew, a school principal, said, “If teachers do not update themselves, it is difficult to groom future-ready students,” he said.
Regional officer of CBSE in Bengaluru P Ramesh said, "1,512 schools are affiliated to the Board in Karnataka and most of them are willing to set up ‘Composite Skill Labs’."
Portal failure
Meanwhile, CBSE’s ambitious initiative, with the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), ‘online career guidance and counselling portal’ launched in 2021, does not function.
Harshida Harikumar, a school principal, said, “As per the circular of CBSE, issued on August 4, 2021, the portal was supposed to have details of 560 plus careers in English, Hindi and other eight languages; details of 25,000 colleges and vocational institutes, spanning over 3 lakh courses; 1,200 scholarships; and 1,150 entrance exams."
"It would have been a very useful platform for both parents and students, had it functioned,” she said.
Counsellor
“As per the CBSE bylaw for affiliation of schools, every secondary and senior secondary school has to appoint a person on full time basis to perform the duties of ‘Counsellor and Wellness teacher’,” pointed out B M Shankar, founder of an institute, which provides personalised career guidance and counselling to students.
Sensitise
“According to NEP 2020, professional academic and career counselling must be available to all students.
Principal Mathew said that the Regional Institute of Education of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) offers a one-year diploma in career guidance for teachers.
“Besides, many private institutions offer online courses. School management should encourage their teachers to do such courses,” he said.
Shankar said, many schools do not find suitable teachers to act as career counselors. So, they seek the assistance of experts.