New 'learning by doing' programme for UP schools to focus on vocational training, skill development

With an aim to bolster the education system in Uttar Pradesh, the State has rolled out a new programme in as many as 1,700 schools, in tandem with the National Education Policy. The programme launched recently is called 'learning by doing'.

Under the same, Basic Education Council schools will be developed on the lines of skill development centres. Herein, students will be provided trained in a slew of skills and will receive education too. However, it has more in store.

"More than 70,000 children will enjoy and excel in learning math and science through practical, vocational activities in special learning labs to be set up in 1,772 schools by Basic Shiksha," UNICEF, who is also behind the plan of action, took to Twitter to announce.

The students of classes 6 to 8 will be engaged, with an aim to prepare them for employment opportunities in future.

In the first cohort of the project, the programme will be set in motion in two upper primary schools of every development block, in turn, making 1,772 UP schools. This will begin from the academic session of 2023-24.

While in the second part of the same, this programme will be launched in all Uttar Pradesh upper primary and composite schools.

A specific module will also be developed for the programme which will be designed aptly for technical instructors and science teachers. Workshops will be taken to train the teachers who would further implement the module in their respective schools.

Moreover, 60 activities of four trades, namely engineering and workshop, energy and environment, agriculture, nursery and gardening, home and healthcare, have been mapped to the curriculum of science and math for the said classes. Tools, equipment, lab setup materials and more will be collected via the Government e Marketplace (GeM) portal to build labs for the aforementioned.

The NEP 2020 emphasises on and pushes vocational education in order to develop a skilled workforce.

The overall objective, of the comprehensive programme, is to acquaint the young minds with necessary strengths, besides important vocational skills. Apart from that, the conceptual understanding of science and math and learning of other skills will be focussed at.