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Time of India
17-07-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Stalled by inertia: Why skill-based subjects remain out of reach for most students, ETEducation
By Praveen Prakash IAS (1994-2024) Advt Advt Every June, a familiar anxiety grips lakhs of Indian households. A teenager stares at a list of subjects, unsure what to pick. A parent, equally confused, tries to help. But neither has the tools to answer the real question: What am I good at and what will the world value five years from now?This decision, which can shape a student's entire academic and professional future, is often made in a vacuum of data, guidance, and to U-DISE+ data for 2023–24, over 2.8 crore students were enrolled in Classes 11 and 12 across boards in India. Yet, the subjects they studied remain disappointingly narrow in scope and alienated from the evolving realities of the professional Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE ) officially offers 80+ elective subjects for classes 11 and 12. However, a majority of students continue to choose from a narrow band of 10-15 conventional subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Commerce, History, is not preference; it's a function of access. Most schools, especially in rural areas and tier 2 and 3 cities cannot afford the teachers or infrastructure to offer newer, skill-based courses like Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Financial Management, Legal Studies, or Design. This trend continues in urban areas as well simply because schools are unable to hire full-time teachers for all the elective subjects, hampering students' access to new age subjects that could give them an edge in higher education and even further in their makes this more troubling is that boards already possess the diagnostic tools to guide students better. Through eight formative and four summative assessments across classes 9 and 10, schools gather comprehensive performance data that is broken down by sub-topic, cognitive skill, and interest this data sits we leverage this information, we could derive each student's natural aptitude and affinity for a subject. For example, a student consistently scoring high in statistics, data handling, and logical reasoning is likely to thrive in data science. Why not use this to recommend a subject in class 11, which is a professional or skill-based one and aligns with the student's potential?Top institutions globally are already paving the path. Universities like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT offer credit-eligible online courses through platforms like edX and other third party platforms, which students can pursue alongside school. Even in India, institutes like IIT Madras are offering fully online programs like their BS degree with over 30,000 students currently enrolled in the college students can earn full degrees online, and if lakhs of NEET and JEE aspirants can crack competitive exams through edtech platforms from villages, is it truly impossible for a Class 11 student to take one online elective, especially when that subject might define their career?We must do away with the mandate that schools hire full-time teachers for each elective subject. Instead, boards should launch white-labelled online platforms, a la CBSE-X, Rajasthan-X, Maharashtra-X and partner with vetted edtechs to deliver these electives online. Boards retain academic oversight, certification rights, and ensure content quality. Edtech partners provide platforms, digital pedagogy, and content delivery. This approach solves the three key problems of access, aptitude-based learning, and professional world is changing. Skill-based subjects like entrepreneurship, AI, legal studies, etc. are no longer luxuries. They are now pre-requisites for rewarding careers. By refusing to evolve, boards do a disservice to our brightest students by pushing them towards rigid and outdated academic cannot continue to be custodians of an obsolete system. This is not about technology vs tradition. It is about meeting our students where their future is headed.
Hindustan Times
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Yogi Adityanath proposes committee for madrasa education reform
In a strong push for reforms in Uttar Pradesh's madrasa education system, chief minister Yogi Adityanath highlighted the need for strict compliance with infrastructural standards before granting official recognition to any madrasa in the state. He also proposed forming a committee under the chairmanship of the director of minority welfare, Uttar Pradesh, to recommend necessary reforms for the smooth functioning of madrasas, job security for teachers, and a better future for the students. Chairing a high-level meeting on Friday to review the current state of madrasa education, the chief minister underlined the importance of ensuring that madrasas do not remain limited to religious teachings alone. 'Students studying in madrasas should have access to the full spectrum of modern education,' Yogi Adityanath said. 'There's a need to bring changes in the madrasa curriculum in line with the New Education Policy 2020. It is also necessary to update the eligibility criteria for teachers and non-teaching staff in accordance with the curriculum. The teacher selection process must be made fair and transparent. The current system of appointing teachers in madrasas also needs to be reviewed,' he added. In this regard, the chief minister proposed a committee which will include special secretaries from the basic education, secondary education, finance, law, and minority welfare departments. He pointed out the challenges that have emerged following the Supreme Court's declaration of the Kamil (graduate) and Fazil (postgraduate) degrees of the Madrasa Board as unconstitutional. He stressed on aligning the recognition standards and requirements of madrasas with those of regular schools managed by the education department. Earlier in the meeting, the minority welfare and waqf department gave a detailed presentation about the current status of madrasas, the main challenges they face and their plans. The chief minister was informed that there are currently 13,329 recognised madrasas in the state, where 12,35,400 students are studying. Out of these, 9,979 madrasas are at the primary and upper primary levels (Classes 1 to 8), and 3,350 are at the secondary and higher secondary levels (Classes 9 to 12). Among them, 561 madrasas receive government grants and they have 2,31,806 registered students. These grant-aided madrasas have 9,889 teachers and 8,367 non-teaching staff, all of whom have been receiving salaries and allowances as per the Seventh Pay Commission's recommendations since January 1, 2016. The chief minister was informed that the Madrasa Portal was launched in August 2017, which made all the functions of the Madrasa Education Council online. A total of 19,123 madrasas registered on the portal, out of which 13,329 have been verified and locked. Through this portal, systems like online exams, certificates, verification, and integration with the U-DISE code have been implemented, ensuring transparency and accountability. However, the number of students appearing in board exams has steadily declined over the years. In 2016, 4,22,627 students appeared, but by 2025, this number dropped to only 88,082. The chief minister called this a serious concern and said that there is a need for improvement. Officials also said that the Madrasa Education Council now conducts exams only at the Maulvi/Munshi (secondary) and Alim (senior secondary) levels. To improve the quality of education, the SCERT curriculum has been implemented and fully enforced from the academic year 2025–26. Efforts are also underway to align the curriculum for Classes 9 to 12 with the State Secondary Education Council. The curriculum now includes not only religious subjects like theology, Arabic, and Persian, but also modern subjects such as mathematics, science, social science, Hindi and English.
