CBSE has plate full of vocational courses,but few takers

But,schools are not too optimistic about this. D K Bedi,principal of Apeejay School,Pitampura says,“We have to look for trained faculty and when we can’t find the faculty,how can we introduce the subject? The school also needs to invest money for the infrastructure,labs and equipment,for the new subject.”

CBSE had proposed to introduce subjects like geo-spatial technology,food production and food and beverage services (hospitality and tourism) at the class XI level. But none of the city schools has introduced the subjects so far.

CBSE offers at least thirty vocational subjects at the senior secondary schools.L V Sehgal,principal of Bal Bharati Public School,Gangaram Hospital Marg says,“The problem is that there is no linkage of vocational subjects to higher education. There is no weightage given to these subjects when the student applies to the Delhi University colleges or any other university”.

St Mark”s Senior Secondary School at Meera Bagh introduced Financial Market Management (FMM) a few years back. But,discontinued the course as the principal Anjali Agarwal says,“DU colleges did not recognise the course,inspite of students having certificates from the National Stock Exchange. So parents were not very happy,so we had to discontinue the course inspite of the fact that we had invested a lot on setting up the laboratory.’

Vocational subjects at class XI level

Office Secretaryship,Banking,Electrical Technology,Medical Laboratory Technology Healthcare and Beauty Culture,Electronics Technology,Air conditioning and Refrigeration Technology,Food Service and Management,Mass Media Studies and Media Production Financial Market Management,Bakery and Confectionary,Life Insurance Library Management,Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery