National vocational education qualifications across 100 schools in Karnataka

The Government of Karnataka and National Skill Development Corporation together, announced the signing of the MoU for the implementation of National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework across 100 schools in five trades at Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan in Bangalore. The Government of India had brought out a revised Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Vocational training in Secondary Education by integrating employability education into School Education in September 2011. The scheme is operated within the National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework ( NVEQF), which establishes a system of clear educational pathways from school to higher education while providing certification of vocational skills. The project has been approved for the state of Karnataka by MHRD, GOI and accordingly Karnataka will be implementing the National Vocational Educational Qualification Framework (NVEQF) from the academic year 2013. The aim is to start the project at Level 1 (class IX) and Level 1 and 2 (class XI) in about 100 government schools in Karnataka with the goal to make students employable when they complete secondary education. The Project will be jointly funded by Central Government and the State Government. NSDC and some partners are already involved in implementation of this scheme in the States of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Rajiv Mathur, Principal, standards and quality assurance, NSDC said: “We hope to deliver training modules which are of highest standards. It is imperative to harness skills right at the education stage so that the youth are trained and is made employable right from the beginning. We see huge potential in the youth of Karnataka and we will ensure that they receive all the necessary training and education for a better future.” Recently NSDC had also launched the STAR scheme (Standard Training Assessment and Reward) for promotional purposes envisages that a monetary reward that will in essence financially help those who wish to acquire a new skill or upgrade their skills to a higher level. While the scheme envisages covering a million skilled people under this scheme, sufficient processes have also been pre-defined to ensure that the quality of the skill imparted is world-class. The monetary reward is strictly depended on obtaining a certificate that will be issued by qualified assessors after necessary tests have been passed. The skills are also benchmarked to National Occupational Standards that have been developed by NSDC with the support of the Sector Skill Councils. Source: Education News