Skillbased courses may not find many takers, warn city schools
EXPERTS SAY No recognition from state board makes it unlikely for students to opt for such courses
MUMBAI: An evolving job market that stresses on innovation and digital aptitude has spurred school education boards to add new subjects, to give their students an edge over others. From global perspectives to digital media, these subjects will impart 21st-century skills, but schools are divided on whether they will find many takers.One of the fastest growing boards in India, Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) has introduced two new subjects: global perspectives and digital media and design. Learners from five to 14 years can opt for global perspectives from 2018-19, while their counterparts in class 10 to 12 are already studying it. Digital media might be offered by 2019.
The Maharashtra state education board, too, has launched an array of vocational subjects from media to travel and tourism under the National Skills Qualification Framework.
Cambridge said that there is a huge demand for skill-oriented subjects even though India is STEM (Science, technology, engineering, maths)-oriented. “The flexibility of subjects that the curriculum offers is refreshing,” said Ruchira Ghosh, regional director, Asia-Pacific, CIE.
The was a 30% increase in the number of entries for March exams
that were started couple of years ago so that Indian students can get
their results in time for local and national colleges.
“We participated in the pilot for global perspectives and found that it equips students for discussions on current topics and critical thinking,” said Kavita Aggarwal, chief academic advisor, JBCN International schools.
However, schools said subjects like global perspectives do not have recognition from the state, making it tough for students to opt for them. “It is easy for conventional subjects to get equivalence as the state board offers them too,” said Aggarwal, who heads MISA (Members of International Schools Association).
In a vicious circle, some state board schools say that they cannot offer these subjects since there are not enough takers, but students interested in them are unable to find schools who do.
“We are not seeing any demand for the new subjects because parents do not want to think out-of-the-box,” said Father Francis Swamy, joint-secretary of Archdiocesan Board of Education (ABE), which runs 150-odd schools in Mumbai.
Source: Hindustan Times | 15 Feb 2017 | Mumbai |
Puja Pednekar puja.pednekar@hindustantimes.com
“We participated in the pilot for global perspectives and found that it equips students for discussions on current topics and critical thinking,” said Kavita Aggarwal, chief academic advisor, JBCN International schools.
However, schools said subjects like global perspectives do not have recognition from the state, making it tough for students to opt for them. “It is easy for conventional subjects to get equivalence as the state board offers them too,” said Aggarwal, who heads MISA (Members of International Schools Association).
In a vicious circle, some state board schools say that they cannot offer these subjects since there are not enough takers, but students interested in them are unable to find schools who do.
“We are not seeing any demand for the new subjects because parents do not want to think out-of-the-box,” said Father Francis Swamy, joint-secretary of Archdiocesan Board of Education (ABE), which runs 150-odd schools in Mumbai.
Source: Hindustan Times | 15 Feb 2017 | Mumbai |
Puja Pednekar puja.pednekar@hindustantimes.com
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