Chandigarh, April 27: Students pursuing vocational education at the industrial training institutes (ITIs) in the state will now be able to study and take exams in Punjabi medium.
It will benefit hundreds of Class X passouts in Punjab who want to pursue vocational education in Punjabi medium in the state ITIs. At present, the students in Punjab have the option of attempting question papers in English and Hindi.
Manjeet Singh, senior vice-president of Punjab Unaided Technical Institutions Association, said the government should equip the students with better employability.
An official associated with the training of students said though imparting education in Punjabi medium was not a bad idea, but the government should ensure timely availability of books and effort should be made to have trained instructors who understood needs of the industry.
Over 50,000 students appear for the ITI exams conducted by the National Council for Vocational Training (NCTV).
Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said students of ITI courses and polytechnic diplomas would be taught in Punjabi medium too from the next session so that Class X-pass students found it easy to study next-level courses. More English teachers were being deputed in polytechnics so that English language skill could be developed more along with technical education study, he said.
On the request of the state government, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has decided to introduce question papers in three more regional languages — Punjabi, Urdu and Assamese — in different areas. The three regional languages would be in addition to the option of 10 other languages available in various states like Bengali, Odia, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi and Telugu.
Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
