The term vocational education is wide-ranging and comprehensive in nature. In addition to general education, it also encourages acquisition of knowledge and practical skills in different areas of economic and social life. It is an integral part of general education as well as continuing education.
The Vocational Education Skill Development Department, Govt. of UP is mandated for expansion of capacity, improvement of quality and facilitation of non-privileged youth to pursue the technical and employment-based education and training through ITIs and UP Skill Development Missions programs.
Skill Development program through a viable technical and vocational training eco-system has become one of the flagship programs of Government of Uttar Pradesh with an overarching independent Skill Mission to bring transformational upliftment of human being through up-skilling of youth. You can visit the following websites for more details regarding the vocational educational system, schemes and setup in Uttar Pradesh:
Under Mission Prerna ki e-Pathshala, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh has taken a multi-modal approach to ensure that student learning and teacher professional development continues through digital means. Various initiatives include:
Through WhatsApp
As part of Mission Prerna ki e-Pathshala, teacher-to-student WhatsApp groups have been formed in 90%+ schools (i.e. ~1.4L groups) across the state. Average number of students added to each group is 15, thus ensuring that ~25L students are connected to their teachers through WhatsApp on their parents’ Smartphones. The department is using its existing network of more than 1,000 WhatsApp groups with Basic Shiksha Adhikaris (BSAs), Block Education Officers (BEOs) and Head Teachers, and more than 9,000 groups with teachers to enable the reach of educational content to all teachers, who can then forward it to students’ groups.
Through DIKSHA
4000+ direct-to-student videos (a mix of curation from expert organizations and crowdsourcing from teachers) have been uploaded and tagged to QR codes printed in textbooks prepared by UP SCERT. Additionally, various other types of available content - Explanation Videos, Practice Questions, Assessments, eTextbook PDFs, Lesson Plans, Slides, Recorded Classrooms on Internet, Recorded Classrooms on TV, e-books etc. have also been made available. These videos have also been made available on the department’s YouTube channel to ensure that those students who do have Diksha app downloaded can also benefit.
Through other Digital Resources
The department’s website Prerna has dedicated teacher resources and student resources, where a large number of e-resources (textbooks, activity charts, posters, audio content etc.) is made available for easy reference and availability to both teachers and students.
e-Pothi / e-Books - Additionally, all textbooks have been made available on the UP SCERT website, in a subject wise and grade wise manner - SCERT Uttar Pradesh
Doordarshan - For those parents and students who do not own a smartphone, the department has made a facility to make high quality educational content available through far-reaching Doordarshan Uttar Pradesh channel. As per independent reports, 18-20% students across the state are benefitting from this content. The department is also purchasing a 4-hour slot on DD UP to increase learning through this channel.
Radio – The reach of Radio is expected to be even more than television; hence radio channels have been engaged to help students in areas and communities where TV coverage is limited. 15–30-minute slots on AIR and other radio channels are being fixed to provide audio-based learning to children at home. Audio content of UNICEF and Gali Gali Sim Sim and other curated sources will be played on Aakashwani.
Partnership with Civil Society
The department has pooled in resources and services from a strong network of national and global organisations like Central Square Foundation, Sesame Workshop India, Pratham, Khan Academy, Google, WhatsApp, the TeacherApp, UNICEF. Efforts to intensify the usage of the content uploaded on ‘DIKSHA’ — the national e-learning platform launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development that hosts video content for children in all age groups.