To widen the scope of employability, Tripura government has introduced as many as 15 new subjects as additional in class IX along with the conventional subjects, which would not only help the students to score better but also allow the students to opt any of those subjects of their preference for pursuing higher studies.
Education minister Ratan Lal Nath said that considering the future scope of employment and better scoring of the students, they introduced new subjects like Yoga, tourism, banking and insurance, marketing, painting, food production, information technology, physical education, music and electronics and hardware.
“In CBSE there are as many as 55 such subjects as additional for the students of class IX. We have chosen only 15 from the basket with the recommendation of the high power committee constituted by the state government with the experts. And from next academic session, with the prior approval of Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE) the schools can offer those extra subjects but the government would not appoint teachers for these,” Nath said.
He stated that in the recent recruitment drive of teachers through teaching eligibility test (TET) it was found that many such graduates and post graduates have joined teaching with the background of non-conventional subjects and the government wanted to harness their potential for the benefit of the students.
Earlier, the state government had introduced vocational courses in 24 selected schools of different areas along with conventional subjects to train the students for getting into income generating activities after obtaining degree. The introduction of new subjects for secondary students would help them to scale up their knowledge for self reliance.
According to the plan, the additional subjects would be adding on option for the students if they fail to score good marks in other subjects except language. The state council of educational research and training has been preparing the books on the subject as per the syllabus prescribed by the expert committee.
“The curriculum is designed in a manner to evoke interest of the students and many of them are practical in nature,” said Nath adding that the teachers having knowledge in those subjects would be the trainer for the students of a particular school.
He further said that to provide a platform for interaction between industry and academia and to understand the skill set requirement in manpower for enhanced employment in industry, Tripura government is holding a one day industry-academia conclave with the experts and industry representatives working in Tripura.
“Whatever little manpower is engaged in different industries of Tripura, 90 per cent of them come from outside because the state doesn’t have it. More than 2000 people are engaged in ONGC, OTPC, GAIL, NEEPCo and other government enterprises in the state and the rate of engagement in private industries are almost equal, which will be increased day by day but maximum of the workforce are from outside. We want to improve the situation for mutual benefit of the state as well as for the industries,” Nath added.
