The Odisha state government has asked all District Education Officers (DEOs) to launch an awareness campaign to improve enrolment in Government Vocational Higher Secondary Schools (GVHSS) across Odisha for the 2023-24 academic session.

Higher Secondary Education Director, Raghuram R Iyer, recently asked the officials concerned to take adequate measures to improve enrolment in the schools. The Directorate of Higher Secondary Education (DHSE) stated there are a total of 231 GVHSSs under the School and Mass Education department running within the host institutions — either government or aided higher secondary, in a letter to the DEOs.

Lack of awareness causing low enrollments?

However, The New Indian Express reports that student enrolment in the GVHSSs has not been encouraged owing to a lack of awareness among students and parents. Sources said that each GVHSS has two vocational trades out of a total of 19 subjects in six different areas such as Agriculture, Health and Paramedical, Engineering and Technology, Commerce, Home Science and Humanities along with other basic courses related to Arts, Science and Commerce. Each trade has 24 seats. However, enrolment has not been as expected.

Iyer asked the DEOs to reach out to students, especially at the secondary level along with Class X students and passouts, through a massive campaign to pursue them to enrol for the courses. Lower cost, hands-on experience and career-focussed education are a few benefits of opting for the trades which include Horticulture, Computer Technique, Audio Visual Technique, Creche and Pre School Management, Electrical Domestic Appliances, Medical Laboratory Technician among others, officials said.

It would also help in meeting the need for skilled and middle-level workers in growing sectors of the economy, both organised and unorganised.