Centre's push to vocational edu in secondary schools

Skilled persons picked from villages to teach in rural schools

Master craftsmen, artisans, hair stylists, tailors and persons with other vocational skills will be roped in to run vocational courses in rural government secondary schools across the country.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has asked states to identify skilled persons in the villages and hire them as vocational teachers in schools located in their vicinity.

It has also finalised rules for selection of such teachers and payment of remuneration under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mooted the idea during a meeting on education in March last, to meet the requirement of vocational teachers in secondary schools in rural areas. The faculty of skill training in rural schools had always been limited due to the absence of local industry and training institutes.

“In view of the dearth of skilled faculty for deployment in schools, it was decided at the meeting led by the Prime Minister that services of skilled and semi-skilled persons available in rural areas can be utilised to apprentice students in vocational courses,” official sources said.

Under the framework for hiring such teachers, a district level vocational education committee comprising district level officer in charge of vocational education, principals, teachers and representatives from local industry and/or sector skill council will identify and engage the skilled and semi-skilled persons who are relevant to the job roles taken up in the school.

Selection criteria

“These persons may be self-employed or wage employed. They may be master craftsmen, artisans, hair stylists, beauticians, tailors, auto mechanics, grocers, retailers, tractor repairing shop, farm service centre, progressive farmers etc,” the framework stipulates.

However, preference will be given to persons who have been certified under National Skills Qualification Framework or those working in accredited RPL centres, an official said.

“These vocational teachers will he engaged as local resource persons, not as permanent teachers in schools,” the official clarified.

After their selection, they will be provided with a short-term training on pedagogical skills. They will also be made aware of the objectives and features of the component of vocationalisation of secondary and higher secondary education.

The HRD Ministry has recently added 100 new vocational courses at the secondary school level, taking the total number of such courses to 140.