Himachal News: A special campaign launched to provide self-employment skills to school dropouts aged 14 to 18 years

Shimla, July 25: Awakening the thought of giving proper career guidance to children who have left school at an early age, Samagra Shiksha has decided to launch a special campaign to provide self-employment skills to the children of the state aged between 14 to 18 years who have dropped out of school. Through this campaign, 50 skill centers will be established in those remote and education-deprived areas of the state, where the number of drop-out children is found to be high, so that employment will be provided to the children who have dropped out of education by giving them vocational training through their interests and counseling.

To effectively identify and reach out to dropout children, Samagra Shiksha has trained 4,317 teachers and school heads of government high schools and senior secondary schools across the state. These trained teachers will conduct surveys around their respective schools to locate drop-out children and collect their details. The survey is expected to be completed by the first week of next month, after which the training process will begin.

“Each of the 50 skill centres will provide training in two specific vocational courses designed to equip children with practical skills that can lead to self-employment opportunities,” said a representative of Samagra Shiksha. “We are also committed to identifying children with special abilities and providing them with customised training.”

This initiative comes after the successful training of 1,500 children in employment-oriented courses such as automotive, apparel, beauty and wellness, electronics and hardware, ITES, plumbing, tourism and hospitality during the 2022-23 academic year. An additional 4,038 children received similar training in 2023-24. This year, Samagra Shiksha aims to expand its reach, ensuring that more and more children are brought into the mainstream of education where possible, while also equipping them with the necessary self-employment skills.

The Directorate of Samagra Shiksha has issued instructions to all Deputy Directors of Higher Education and District Project Officers (DPOs) to facilitate this campaign. The aim of the programme is not only to impart vocational skills but also to reintegrate these children into the education system wherever possible.

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