Technical education with internship to be introduced Class 6 onwards in schools: Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal

Vocational training with an internship will be introduced from Class 6 onwards in schools, said the Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal during a webinar on his social media channels on Tuesday. "We aim to implement vocational education for students in Class 6 onwards in middle schools. This has been introduced under the National Education Policy 2020," he added.

The Minister of Education said this while responding to a teacher who asked the ministry to include professional papers from Class 9 in schools. "Considering your inputs, we have introduced technical education from Class 6 onwards along with internship to ensure practical training rather than just theoretical studies," he said during his webinar interacting with teachers on December 22, 2020.

Pokhriyal further added, "Many countries have cancelled one entire academic year but our teachers continued to work hard and did not allow any candidate to waste their academic year. Teachers are no less than Corona warriors for training 33 crore students across countries during this tough time. There are policies which go unnoticed. But the NEP was an exception. It was formed with your suggestions. And now it is being celebrated across the country."

Pokhriyal was interacting with teachers on Tuesday through a webinar at 4 pm. "My dear #Teachers, I will be going live on December 22 at 4 pm to talk to you about the upcoming board #exams. Do tune in and share your concerns with me. #EducationMinisterGoesLive," the minister had tweeted earlier. Teachers, parents, students, and other stakeholders were asked to post their queries with the hashtag '#EducationMinisterGoesLive'.

In his earlier interaction with students and parents, the minister had said that a further cut in the syllabus of board exams cannot be ruled out. He also said that there could be an alternative to practical exams owing to the pandemic. He said it was not mandatory to follow the earlier timetable and the examination schedule could be postponed.