CHENNAI: Circulars instructing district education officers to discontinue vocational courses in government schools for Class 11 students have been sent to Kanniyakumari, Dindigul and Tenkasi. Even those who are pursuing the courses this year will be shifted out.
“It is categorically informed that no Class 11 students should be admitted to vocational courses from the academic year 2022-23. Schools which offer vocational courses must take note and make arrangements to transfer the students to other courses. Shortage of teachers is also an issue,” the circular from the school education department read. However, no such circular has been issued for the Chennai district.
When contacted, an official from the department said students will be given an option to get transferred to whichever available stream. “We are revamping and restructuring the vocational education curriculum,” said the official. However, no comments were made about the sudden discontinuation of the course.
The delayed order has made the students who have already joined these courses and are preparing for quarterly exams uncertain about their future.
In Tenkasi, Chief Educational Officer (CEO) M Kabeer sent the instructions to nine government higher secondary schools citing a shortage of teachers. In his August 26 letter to headmasters, Kabeer mentioned that this decision had been taken based on the instruction given by the Commissioner of School Education Department in a meeting of CEOs held on August 12 and 13. Kabeer asked the headmasters to respond to his letter after taking the necessary steps. His letter comes three months after the students of these groups were enrolled.
The department initiated vocational education for students to get better employment opportunities in the industrial sectors. Subjects offered include basic electrical engineering, basic mechanical engineering, agricultural sciences, textile and dress designing, office management, accountancy and auditing among others. Students get skill training for job roles that have been mapped and a skill certificate. This will be an additional certificate, besides the mark sheets given on completion of Classes 11 and 12.
Meanwhile, in Madurai, CEO K Karthiga said they have government instruction to not hire teachers for vocational groups after the retirement of existing teachers. “Suppose if a vocational teacher retired, that particular school should stop admitting the students, that group must be wound-up. Around 30 schools are offering vocational groups. among them, 10 may be stopped soon,” she said.
Parents and education rights activists expressed disappointment over the announcement. “The new education policy stresses the importance of skill-based education. This move by the government contradicts that. This also puts into question the Naan Mudhalvan scheme which aims to identify, train and offer career and academic guidance to talented students in government-run schools,” said KR Nandakumar, State secretary, TN Nursery, Primary, Matriculation and CBSE Schools Association.
Concurring, PA Selvan, a government school teacher, said, “Vocational courses were extremely useful for students as they could pick up new skills and knowledge of technology in schools and could seek better employment opportunities. Even if the government is giving a provision to shift the students, they could have at least scrapped the project after proper notification”
(Inputs from Thinakaran Rajamani @ Tenkasi and Jeyalakshmi Ramanujam @ Madurai)