AICTE to offer new vocational courses

As the Ministry of  Union Human Resource Development (HRD) is about to unveil the vocational education policy next month, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is working on integrating formal education with vocational education.

This will allow a student who has studied Food Science in school, to take up a Diploma in Food Technology and even a degree in the same field. An AICTE official, requesting anonymity, said that the aim is to allot qualifications in whatever vocational knowledge that a candidate wants to work in.

The official added, “While on one side there will be integration of formal and vocational education, new courses are being generated where there are opportunities. The courses will be designed after taking into consideration the geographical locations and socio-economic culture of the places. For Maharashtra, entertainment and construction are the big industries with dire need of professional workers and hence provides good opportunities.”

“The courses will be of different levels — school level to post-graduate level,” he said.