PORVORIM: The govt has decided to do away with vocational courses, which fail to offer job opportunities to students from the next academic year while introducing job-oriented studies after Class 10th and Class 12th.
“Career-based education needs to be introduced in the curriculum. Different courses have to be explored whereas some vocational courses, which have no vertical mobility, have to be dropped,” said CM Sawant. He said he had intervened to shut a few courses, which did not offer any job prospects and also introduced new ones having employable opportunity. He proposed the idea of conducting aptitude tests in a bid to understand each student’s inclination towards certain areas of study, etc and added that the education dept can be involved to study this aspect.
Opposition leader Digambar Kamat was amongst others who raised the issue on outdated vocational courses while Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte called on the govt to trace the whereabouts of dropouts. Congress legislator Reginald Lourenco along with Khaunte also expressed concern over the dropout rates among students from secondary to higher secondary level. Sawant, the Education Minister said aptitude test will curb the dropouts and agreed to locate the whereabouts of the dropout students.
He mooted the idea of designating one dedicated teacher for career guidance in every school while minimum two teachers in each school, having interest in counselling, can be imparted the required training. This move, he said, will ensure no shortfall of counsellors in the schools.
Sawant also gave a detailed reply to a starred question by BJP MLA Pravin Zantye regarding the steps the govt will take for improving employability-based education for Goan students.
