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New Delhi: The government on Monday outlined its plan to bring vocational training into mainstream school education under the National Education Policy.
Skill Development Minister Jayant Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that the initiative aims to give students advance exposure to workplace skills and create clear pathways between short-term training and higher education.
The Union Minister said vocational subjects are now being offered in over 25,000 schools across the country, with over 35 lakh students enrolled, and said a hub-and-spoke model has been introduced so that schools without workshops can use the facilities of nearby hub schools.
Choudhary told the lower house that the ministry has also set up 1,200 vocational laboratories in Navodaya Vidyalayas and Eklavya schools to address the shortcomings in laboratory infrastructure that had slowed down the NEP mandate of vocational exposure from grade six.
He said districts with weak job markets and low college access will benefit the most. For example, in Kandhamal, Odisha, 61 schools have already started holistic education and skill courses under PM Shri. Samagra Shiksha funds improvements in school education, including vocational training, while PM Shri upgrades selected schools to NEP-aligned model schools.
A step that can help students move more easily between skills and higher levels EducationThe minister said the government has created a credit-transfer system through the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC). It stores credits earned from school, skills and higher-education courses in a digital account, allowing them to be transferred and redeemed whenever students change programs or institutions.
Under the National Credit Framework, all credits—including credits from short-term skills programs—are stored in ABC, which enables students to redeem them later.
The National Credit Framework, notified in April 2023, formally recognizes vocational and short-term training, allowing smooth movement between skill courses and degree programmes. The system also supports flexible entry and exit into higher education, helping students to more easily combine study, work and training.
On entrepreneurship, Choudhary clarified that the Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana is not being restructured, but said the government is relying on a broader set of programs to help youth move from training to business creation – including Startup India, Stand-up India, PM Vishwakarma and the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups.
Rajasthan, which has seen a rise in the number of entrepreneurs in the rural sector for the first time, has recorded over 55,000 sanctioned loan accounts under PM Vishwakarma and over 15,000 loans under Stand-Up India.
For rural and low-literacy groups, the Jan Shikshan Sansthan scheme, which trains women, SC and ST communities and school dropouts, remains the major entry point to vocational training. Around 32.5 lakh people have been trained under JSS since 2018.
The ministry also shared its expenditure record, which shows a strong increase in expenditure under PMKVY across its full outlay From Rs 1,538 crore in 2024-25 510.52 crore in 2023-24. The National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) has also exceeded its budget 632.82 crores in 2023-24 This year against the outlay of Rs 586.23 crore 512.24 crores.
However, expenditure on the Jan Shikshan Sansthan program continued to decline 157.25 crore more in 2023-24 144.47 crore in 2024-25.
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