Rupesh Samant

Panaji, Jul 31: National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF), a flagship program of Central government, for imparting skills into the students at schools and higher secondary schools has been receiving an overwhelming response, a senior functionary said on Thursday.

Goa Education Department’s deputy director Shambhu S Ghadi, who is in-charge of NSQF initiative, said that the enrolment of students under this program has been increasing with every academic year in Goa.

Total 2,068 students were enrolled during the academic year 2014-15 when the scheme was introduced for the first time, which went to 6,985 for the year 2019-20.

“These courses were first introduced in Government High Schools, most of these schools are in rural areas. It was the response received from these schools that gave the others, the motivation to introduce these courses in their schools,” he said.

Ghadi said that NSQF is operational in 79 government schools and 12 aided high schools as well as in nine government higher secondary schools and 23 aided higher secondary schools.

Goa is the only state to have introduced NSQF in government-aided high schools and higher secondary schools.

Ghadi said that in Goa, the programme is implemented through Goa Samagra Shiksha, an initiative of the education department and is not outsourced to any agencies like in some other states.

The students right from high school to higher secondary school learn courses such as automobile, healthcare, IT/ITes, agriculture, tourism and hospitality, beauty and wellness, construction, logistics, retail, electronics and hardware, apparel, media and entertainment, telecom and plumbing are the sectors operational in Goa, he said.

He stated that the curriculum for each sector is designed based on employability skills is a part of the curriculum for all sectors and in all classes from IX to XII.

Ghadi said that the courses offered are skill-based and job oriented.

“The instructors are well trained and there is a provision to invite resource-persons from the industry to give practical training,” he said.

Ghadi said that the students have to be taken on field visits to give them a feel of the respective industry. “Students have to undergo 80 hours of on-the-job training (OJT). The practical examination is conducted by the assessors who are deputed by National Skill Development Corporation through the respective Sector Skills Council,” he said.

“The students are awarded a certification from the Goa Board as well as a skill certificate from NSDC and the Sector Skills Council. All these factors help them in being prepared to face the challenge that the industry has to offer. The objective is to equip them with the necessary vocational and employability skills to enable them to get gainful employment or for self-employment,” he added.