CBSE to start four new courses

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has taken upon itself the onus of solving the problem of acute shortage of trained professionals faced by various industries, by developing employability skills among students.

In this direction, the board has decided to introduce Geospatial Technology, Food Production, Food and Beverage Services, and Mass Media Studies and Media Production, as competency-based vocational courses at senior secondary level from the academic year of 2011-12.

“In pursuance of our policy of exploring new domain of knowledge and skills that have good employment prospects, as well as career opportunities, CBSE has decided to introduce four new vocational courses,” said Shashi Bhusan, director of vocational courses, CBSE.

“In recent years, the CBSE has started collaborating with various industries/institutions for introducing competency-based joint certification courses as per the present needs of society and various industries,” he said.

In fact, on a pilot basis, the CBSE had introduced the four courses in a few select schools in Class XI, in 2010.

“Based on positive feedback received from the pilot schools, CBSE has decided to start the courses at all its affiliate schools in the country and abroad,” Bhusan said.

Experts say that Indian economy requires huge manpower equipped with relevant skills to manage the emerging market of geospatial and remote sensing technology.

“The objective of the geospatial technology course is to build geospatial skills in students to create geodatabase and mapping. The course will also provide students practical knowledge and understanding of geospatial technology, which includes remote sensing, photogrammetric and geographic information system,” said Bhusan.

“The curriculum of geospatial technology has been designed by eminent experts from relevant industries in the field.”

In order to start the course, schools should have sufficient computers with required software, and internet facilities. However, select schools will be provided relevant software (Geometrica) free of cost by Rolta India Limited, Mumbai, with which CBSE has collaborated for the project.

According to sources, the annual demand for trained manpower in hotels and restaurants across India is about 2.03 lakh a year.

“India’s hotel industry is the second largest in the entire Asia-Pacific region. Over five million foreign tourists come to India every year. Keeping in view the acute shortage of trained professionals in hospitality and tourism sector, we are starting courses in Food Production and Food and Beverage Services,” said Bhusan.

“The primary objective of the course is to develop practical employability skills in hospitality and tourism sector,” he said.

The board has started the new course on Mass Media Studies and Media Production, as an academic elective, as well as a vocational package in collaboration with Whistling Woods International Limited, Mumbai, for technical support and teachers training.

“Mass Media Studies and Media Production is a popular course and attracting lot of students to take up the course, as it provides young people with interesting career options in newspapers, magazines, video, television, advertisement and public relations,” said Bhusan.

In order to provide the courses to students, CBSE will soon conduct a massive training programme for teachers.

About 11,550 schools in India are affiliated to the board. The board also has 153 affiliated schools in 23 foreign countries. The CBSE is one of the 41 boards in the country.