Vocational education approved in 606 AP schools

Nellore: Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi informed in the House on Monday that as many as 606 schools of Andhra Pradesh have been approved under the component of Vocationalisation of School Education under Samagra Shiksha.

She responded to the questions raised by members AdalaPrabhakar Reddy, Locket Chatterjee, and P Midhun Reddy and said National Education Policy 2020 has given special emphasis on vocational education through integration of vocational education with general education.

For providing quality vocational education to school students, the Minister said the department was implementing the scheme of Vocationalisation of School Education under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme - Samagra Shiksha.

Under the Hub & Spoke Model, 16 hub schools and 19 spoke schools of AP have been approved. In addition, 130 schools of AP have been approved for providing exposure to vocational education to the students of Classes VI to VIII. Under the Scheme, Central government provides financial assistance to states and UTs for engaging vocational trainers.

15th Finance Commission recommended grants of Rs 4,800 Crore (1,200 crore each year) from 2022-23 to 2025-26 for incentivising states in terms of incremental change in Performance Grading Index (PGI) indicators to enhance all educational outcomes including Vocational Education.