PANAJI: Chief minister Pramod Sawant said on Monday that a state committee has begun work to create a school syllabus more Goa-centric and focused on students’ career orientation.
At an event to mark teachers’ day, Sawant said that many new courses are set to be offered at the higher secondary school and college level from as early as next year, which can offer vertical mobility to Goan students to pursue higher education.
“I held two meetings recently with education officials, and I have mainly stressed on two things: that we should focus on career-oriented education, and have a state-centric syllabus,” he said. “Already, a committee has been formed to work on the syllabus. The courses taught from the primary to the college level should offer students vertical mobility. Our department has started thinking on these lines.”
Sawant suggested that a subject offered at the school level should offer potential to be pursued at the higher education level. He also said that the implementation of the new national education policy would be taken up from the next academic year.
“There may have been delays due to the pandemic, but next year, we are preparing to implement the new education policy in a big way. The committees on school education and higher education have already submitted their report and we will provide the additional manpower required to implement their recommendations,” he said, addressing teachers after felicitating ten state teacher award winners.
The CM said that especially in rural areas, students are unable to receive the required career guidance and that teachers need to step in.
“Only a teacher can offer the best career counselling. I have seen that there is still a lack of career guidance, especially in villages. Teachers should think of it as their responsibility to provide career guidance to a student. It is not only those who are capable of becoming doctors, lawyers or engineers who should get career guidance, even a student who fails Class X should get career guidance,” Sawant said.
He said that today, various skilling programmes are available even to a student who has cleared Class VIII under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushalya Yojana.
Sawant also said that recruitment of new teachers has been expedited.
“There may have been some delay, but we have already fast-tracked the process for aided and government schools. We have also fast-tracked promotions of existing teachers. We will try to complete this process at the earliest,” said Sawant.
Sawant said that some difficulties were being experienced in conducting and accessing online classes in Goa, but teachers have gone out of their way, with some visiting students’ homes to teach in rural areas without connectivity.
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