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International conference on ‘Integration of Academic Courses withVocational Education in Secondary Schools’ (17-19 February, 2012)A three day International Conference on “Integration of Academic Courses with VocationalEducation in Secondary Schools” was held from 17-19 February 2012 at the Institute ofDefence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), New Delhi. Organized by the National Institute of OpenSchooling (NIOS) in collaboration with UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL),this conference deliberated upon the impending challenges and issues of Vocational Educationand Training (VET) to develop a framework to establish linkages of skill training throughVocational Education at Secondary School level with emphasis on knowledge base throughacademic subjects.

entry to the work place for economic reasons and the need for this to be remedied bymainstreaming vocational education. She urged the NIOS to fulfill this need by designingcourses to meet market demands with an emphasis on quality, a crucial element in vocationaleducation.

Delivering the inaugural address,Smt. Anshu Vaish, Secretary, Deptt.of School Education & Literacy,MHRD, Govt. of India emphasizedon the need for a focused agendato address the skill requirement ofa nation like India which will have700 million people seeking to earntheir livelihood by 2022. Speakingin the context of the workshop whichwas working upon the aligning ofacademic and vocational courses,Smt. Vaish pointed out howvocational education wasstigmatized as a result of an early

Two new vocational courses in the areasof Hospitality and ConstructionSupervision were launched on theoccasion.

A special address was delivered bySri Shigeru Aoyaji, Director & UNESCORepresentative for India, Bhutan,Sri Lanka and Maldives. Appreciatingthe contribution made by NIOS in thearea of Open Distance Learning, hehoped that this conference would providea platform for strengthening co-operationamong the institutes on one hand andindustries on the other.

framework for vocational education, duringthe three day conference. The inauguralsession of the Conference on 17th February2012 was followed by the plenary sessions,where presentations were made on variousthemes.

The first plenary session chaired bySri Apurva Chandra, Joint Secretary (SE&L),MHRD, Govt. of India included a presentationon the “Use of ICT for Skill TrainingImplications for Open Schooling System inIndia” by Dr. Sugata Mitra, Professor, MITMedia Lab, USA and Professor, ECLS, NewCastle University, U.K.

Earlier, welcoming the participants, Dr. S.S. Jena, Chairman, NIOS said that this conferencewas organized to re-orient the school education system especially the Open Schooling System,in keeping with the need for skill development and development of core capabilities, therebyachieving the objective of life long learning. He further added that heterogeneous expertsdrawn from different academic areas will deliberate on new emerging areas and develop a

Smt. Anshu Vaish, Secretary, Deptt. of School Education andLiteracy inaugurating the Conference

Launching New Vocational Courses

Plenary Session Chaired by Sri Apurva Chandra,Joint Secretary (SE&L), MHRD, GOI

Chaired by Prof. M. Aslam, Vice-Chancellor,IGNOU, the second plenary sessionhighlighted the policies and perspectives ofthe Govt. of India for imparting training andskill education in the country throughpresentations made by Sri Sharda Prasad,JS & DG (DGET), Ministry of Labour, Govt ofIndia and Sri G. Vaz (Consultant, TechnicalVocational Education & Training (TVET),Mumbai on how policy perspectives for

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vocational skills and training to empowercitizens had enabled translation of prejudiceto pride.

Framework to strengthen the impact ofVocational Education at School Level”. Thetwo speakers for the session were Mr. DilipChenoy, MD & CEO (NSDC), Delhi andMs. Belinda Smith, Consultant, TVET.

made by Ms. Maria Peters, CEO, ChisholmInstitute of TAFE, Australia and Mr. ShailendraSidgel, Statistical Advisor, South Asia, UIS,Canada, This was followed by two parallelsessions on the themes, “Vocational Skillsand Training for Empowerment – The PolicyPerspective” chaired by Dr. Godson Gatsha,Consultant & ODL Technical Advisor, Malawiand Designing the curriculum and qualityframework to strengthen the Impact ofVocational Education at the school level”chaired by Ms. Weddinah Nyangu, P.E.O,Ministry of Education, Science and VocationalTraining , Zambia. Speakers in these sessionsincluded Mr. Karnail Singh, J&K, Dr. AshishAgarwal, Delhi; Dr. Jitendra Tiwari,Uttarakhand; Dr. Vetukuri P.S. Raju, Delhi;H. Asgar, Delhi; Ms. Smriti Sharma,Chattisgarh; Mr. B.R Umakant, Karnataka;Mr. J Inbaraj, Chennai; Dr. G Ananda A.P;Dr. Sanjay B Zope, Maharashtra; Mr. T.Somanath, Karnataka; Mr. K. RamakrishnaRao, Bheemunipatnam; Dr. Asfa M. Yasin,M.P. and Mrs. Rajni Bala, Punjab. Theconference sessions concluded with a paneldiscussion on the theme “Pedagogy for skillTraining in secondary school” moderated byDr. K.P. Wasnik, Director (VocationalEducation)”, NIOS. The panelists includedProf. C.G Naidu, IGNOU; Ms. Terry Neal,Flexible learning, OPNZ, New Zealand andDr. Nalin Jena, World Bank, India.

This was followed by two parallel plenarysessions wherein paper presentations weremade on various issues relating to theIntegration of Academic Courses withVocational Education. A panel discussion on“Pedagogy for Skill Training in SecondarySchools” also formed part of the conferenceproceedings on the third day.

The three day conference concluded with aConsolidation and Valedictory Session,presided by Dr. (Smt.) D. Purandeswari,Minister of State for Human ResourceDevelopment, Govt. of India.

Parallel sessions on the Use of Technologyin Academic Courses and VocationalEducation and Policy perspectives forimparting vocational skills and training forempowerment, were also held on the first dayof the conference, chaired by Dr. WilberforceMeena, Tanzania and Mr. Albert Joseph,Executive Director, FVTRS, Bangalore,respectively. The speakers includedMs. Aparna Pankaj, Kadikar, Gujarat;Dr. Arif Jain, State Open School, J&K;Mr. V. Levakumar, Trivandrum, Dr. RajeshKumar, Joint Director (Acad.), NIOS;Mr. Prakash Kanale, Associate Professor,D.S.M College, Maharashtra; Dr. ManojKulshreshtha, Project Coordinator, School ofEngineering and Technology, IGNOU, Delhi;Dr. Anil Kumar K., Asstt. Professor in TeacherEducation, RIE, Mysore, Karnataka;Mr. K. Ramakrishna Rao, Andhra Pradesh;Mr. Anwarul Islam, Bangladesh; GodsonGatsha, Botswana; Dr. Sushmita Mitra,London; Dr. Amit Agarwal, Uttarakhand;Prof. (Ms) P.K. Tulsi, Chandigarh; Dr. J.N.Baliya, Jammu; Ms. Jyotsna Ayyagari,Hyderabad; Mr. K. Venkatesan, Andaman &Nicobar; Ms. Vidya Varidhi Upadhyay;Ms. Jagriti Singh, Delhi; Ms. Rajni Bala,Punjab and Mr. Chitrasen Gautama, Delhi.

The second day of the conference began witha video presentation of Ms. Francis Ferreira,Educational Specialist, COL who could notattend the conference but wanted to shareher views and concerns. Through hermessage, she emphasized on the need formore investments in the system in order toreach out to the 71.6 million children who donot have access to quality education.

The first session on the second day chairedby Mr. Jagadananda, InformationCommissioner, Orissa deliberated on thetheme “Designing the curriculum and Quality

Deliberations were also held on “Developinga Framework for the Recognition of PriorLearning” in a panel discussion chaired bySri Jagmohan Singh Raju, Joint Secretary(Adult Education) and Director General,National Literary Mission Authority (NLMA),Govt. of India and on ‘Vocational Educationin Secondary Schools and its implications’for National Vocational EducationalQualification Framework (NVEQF)’.

The session ended with an emphasis on theneed for thinking about Bharat versus India,and the need for integration of employability,self employment, and livelihood.

The Third and final day of the conferencebegan with a plenary session on the theme“Assessment and Certification Framework”,chaired by Prof. Md. Miyan, Vice-Chancellor,Maulana Azad National Urdu University,Hyderabad.

Prof. M. Aslam, VC, IGNOU (Centre)Chairing a Session

Dr. S.S. Jena, Chairman, NIOS felicitatingMr. Jagadananda, Information Commissioner, Orissa

Plenary Session: Prof. Md. Miyan (centre),Mr. Shailendra Sidgel (L) and Ms. Maria Peters (R)

The issues discussed included “Working inPartnership to Engage Youth in VocationalEducation Training (VET) and “StudentAssessment in Technical VocationalEducation & Training” through presentations

Dr. (Smt.) D. Purandeswari, Minister of State forHuman Resource Development, Govt. of India

delivering the Valedictory address

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Congratulating Dr. S.S. Jena, Chairman,NIOS for the initiative taken by himin organizing this conference,Smt. Purandeswari highlighted the importanceof Vocationalization of Secondary Educationin the country. “India is in a transition to aknowledge based economy. This requires thetranslation of manpower to knowledgeablemanpower”, she said. Speaking in the contextof the integration of academic courses withvocational education, she pointed out theurgent need to re-determine the criticalelements of vocational training to make thesystem more efficient.

The Guest of Honour, Sh. Jagmohan Raju,Joint Secretary, Adult Education and DirectorGeneral, National Literacy Mission Authority(NLMA), Govt. of India emphasized on the roleto be played by state education boards in theintegration of academic courses withvocational education and hoped that thefindings and outcome of the conference wouldfacilitate the formation of policies in thecontext.

Earlier, welcoming the guests, Dr. S.S. Jena,Chairman, NIOS informed that extensivedeliberations were held on the integration ofvocational education with academic coursesthrough insights given by the speakers on thevarious sub-themes in the form of paperpresentations made during the conference.He thanked the collaborative institutions,UNESCO & COL as well as the delegates fortheir support and contribution.

Dr. Mamta Srivastava, Dy. Director,Vocational Education Deptt., NIOS presenteda consolidated report on the three dayconference which was held from 17th-19thFebruary 2012.

Dr. K.P. Wasnik, Director, VocationalEducation Deptt., NIOS proposed a vote ofthanks.

Workshop on Recognition ofPrior Learning (RPL)

A three day workshop was organised onRecognition of Prior Learning (RPL) from20-22 February, 2012 at IDSA, New Delhi asa part of the MOU signed between NationalInstitute of Open Schooling, (NIOS) and Open

Superannuation

Dr. R.K Arya, Joint Director (Media) has retired from the services of NIOS and was accordingly relieved from his duties w.e.f.from 29-02-2012.

Polytechnic New Zealand (OPNZ) and to benefit from the expertise of OPNZ, in implementingRPL in India. Ms. Liz Bowen Clewey, Director, Competency International Limited, New Zealandand Ms. Terry Neal, Flexible Learning Manager, OPNZ were the facilitators of the workshop.Participants were from NIOS, State Open Schools, Jan Shikshan Sansthans and PSSCIVE,Bhopal. Some key sectors identified in the workshop were Textiles, Automobile, ConstructionSupervision, Plumbing and Electrical Technician.

Republic Day Celebrations

The Republic Day (January 26, 2012) was celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm andfervour at the NIOS headquarters, NOIDA as well as the Regional Centres. Deliveringa message for NIOS learners on the occasion, Dr. S.S. Jena, Chairman, NIOS reiteratedthe commitment of the institution to generate a healthy learning society.

National Institute of Open SchoolingA-24-25, Institutional Area, Sector-62, NOIDA, UP

Website : www.nios.ac.inToll Free No. 1800 180 9393

Editorial BoardEditorial BoardEditorial BoardEditorial BoardEditorial Board

• S.S. Jena, Chairman, NIOS : Chief Editor

• C. Dharuman, Director (Evaluation)/Secretary : Member

• K.P. Wasnik, Director (VE) : Member

• Kuldeep Agarwal, Director (Academic) : Consulting Editor

• Sanyam Bhardwaj, Director (SSS) : Member

• Gowri Diwaker, PRO : Editor

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National Institute of Open Schooling

Success StoryFrom the Regional Centres ........

Bhubaneswar• An Orientation Programme for New Accredited Institutes

through Teleconference and a Meeting of Coordinatorsfor the Koraput Zone were organised at the IGNOURegional Centre, Koraput on 12 January 2012.

• To commemorate the National Youth Day (12 January2012), a quiz programme was organised for NIOSlearners at the Government SSD High School,Sunabeda, Koraput (AI No. 410031) on 13 January2012.

• In a Carrom Competition held for NIOS learners from25-27 January 2012 at MITRA, Bhubaneswar,Sri Chinmay Kumar Pradhan and Ms. Ankita Payal weredeclared the winners.

• A Chess Competition held on 27th January was wonby Sri Sk. Abdul Rahim.

Pune

Workshop on Development of OER inVocational EducationA three day workshop was held from 27-29th Feb 2012 atPune to orient the Open Educational Resources (OER)course teams in the areas of ICT applications, RuralTechnology and Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Inaugurating the programme, Prof. Ram Takwale, FormerVice Chancellor, IGNOU emphasised on the creation of anOER based educational system and hoped that theworkshop will help in the development of role- based andconcept based OERs with a lot of activities by means ofwhich distance learners can enhance their capabilities.

A detailed presentation on the terms ‘Open Resource’ and‘Educational Resource’ was made by Prof. S.C. Agarkar,Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE),Mumbai. The importance and usefulness of ADDIE Modelwas discussed through an online presentation sessionmade by Dr. Jayashree Shinde, HOD, EducationalTechnology, SNDT University, Mumbai and supported byProf. Veena Deshmukh, Director, CDE, SNDT University,Mumbai.

Prof. M.N. Deshmukh, Sr. Scientific Officer, HBCSE, Mumbaishared his experience of the OER project of HBCSE. Asession on wiki by Dr. Savithri Singh, Principal, AcharyaNarendra Dev College emphasised on the need for makingthe OER ‘open’ in its complete sense and demonstratedthe use of wiki educator as a platform for OER.

The participants were urged to prepare Concept Maps onthe topics for which the content analysis had been completedand work towards the preparation of integrated syllabi.