New Delhi: After stressing that students with vocational degrees should be treated on par with other graduates, Education Minister Manish Sisodia's department has now started rigorously working towards establishing a vocational university in the Capital by September 2021.
The department aims to make the university — slated to be named Delhi Skills and Entrepreneurship University — self-sustainable along with the authority to bestow degrees equivalent to a B.Ed, B.A, Diploma and PhD with primary focus on enhancing vocational skills.
"The main campus for it will likely be Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Okhla which will be the primary centre with smaller campuses across the city. The focus is to make the courses attractive and a better version of Bachelor of Vocational (BVoc) degrees — which will hopefully draw in students with varied interests," said an official from the education department.
The university will have its own governing body with a vice-chancellor so that it can function independently. Sisodia told Millennium Post that the department is currently "focused on appointing the right chancellor as soon as possible."
"The focus of the university will be to develop skills amongst young adults who have completed their schooling and are looking for higher education with the right skills that will land them a job. In the current scenario once students leave school they are not fully equipped to get a job, this university will bridge the gap between theory learned in degree colleges and specific skills required for a real-time job," Sisodia said.
The vocational university will offer a range of courses that will be equivalent to courses in other colleges like a diploma degree, B.A, M.A, B.Ed, and Phd with a combination of vocational and skill training, said a senior official in the education department.
The state government may partially fund the university but the aim is to make the college fiscally self-sustainable. "The government will definitely assist the university in whatever ways required but it will function independently in terms of decision-making," the official added. Non-government organisations will also be roped in for training students in their respective vocational subjects, he said.
The department is also looking to tie-up with vocational training institutes from Singapore and Germany who will provide world-class training to the students.
The state government has previously raised the issue of universities like Delhi University not treating students who have studied vocational subjects in class 12 on par with students who have studied core academic subjects.