Introducing skill-based training within the school curriculum is essential 

In the present context of globalization, the demand for multi–skilled workers have increased. As a result, to make our nation the skill capital of the world, the school curricula will have to go through a dynamic change rather than being clued on to typical traditional academic streams and careers.  

Mount Abu has always aimed at revolutionizing education and has been working towards making the youth employable, by creating avenues for them to access better work opportunities in the global arena. 

With the Skill Hub initiative under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0 (PMKVY), the government has started a great wave to train the young work force and enable them to prepare and adapt to real work situations without much effort. It’s my pleasure to open the gates of Mount Abu Public School as it has been chosen by the Central Board of Secondary Education for setting up a Skill Hub under the Skill Hub Initiative.  

Education as per me needs to be envisioned not just as imparting knowledge to learners but making them skilled, vocationally equipped and cognitively active in order to become Productive Global Citizens. We enthusiastically worked and incorporated the recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020 in our curriculum to give the learners a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to develop intellectual, aesthetic, social, physical, emotional and moral needs and traits, in order to help them be ready for the future.  

Introduction of meticulously crafted skill development clubs and vocational training sessions in the school curriculum like Information Technology, Health and Wellness, Artificial Intelligence, Financial Literacy, Physical Education, Handicrafts, Entrepreneurship and Design Thinking are steps in the direction to meet all the guidelines and deliver the intent of the NEP 2020. The goal is to skill up our learners and build up their interests into their strengths so that they can pursue and make a living while enjoying what they love.  

It has brought a much-needed shift to experiential and practical learning emphasizing development of 21st Century Skills. We started by inaugurating our ATL Lab, organized different workshops and courses to upskill all our students, encouraged their vocational parameters, incorporated Sustainable Development Goals practices in their daily routine, promoted peer programs boosting their entrepreneur mindset and most importantly their physical health. Question papers are also designed keeping in mind creativity, problem-solving skills and metacognition skills leading to self-regulation on the part of the learners. 

We are constantly in search of ways to broaden the horizon and make education more accessible for our learners. The school, now being the nodal skill center under the Skill Hub Initiative, will be a great venture to give exposure to our in-house students, the school dropouts and out of education candidates.  

‘Knowing is not enough, one must apply’. Offering experiential learning will provide the learners exposure to real-world and hands on experience to leap ahead of the competition in this advancing world and help in realizing their dreams to be the future Ratan Tata, Elon Musk, or Sunder Pichai as ‘Schooling doesn’t assure employment but skill does’. 

Jyoti Arora is the Principal of Mount Abu Public School, Sec-5, Rohini. Views expressed are personal.