Skill development to be made compulsory subject for Classes 9 to 12: Haryana CM

Bhiwani: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said skill development will be made a compulsory subject for students of Classes 9 to 12 so that the youth of the state can become self-reliant in all aspects. Khattar said his government was making tireless efforts to provide quality and employable educational facilities to the students of the state.

He was addressing an event at the Haryana School Education Board campus in Bhiwani. The chief minister said in today's era, skill universities are the need of the hour and the state government has set up Haryana's first such university in Palwal. He further said that the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 was going to bring revolutionary changes.

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"In this policy, along with education and employment, the main goal is to make the students cultured and self-reliant so that they make significant contributions in making India a global leader again," Khattar said, according to an official statement. He said that along with technical education, emphasis was being laid on artificial intelligence to make education industry-oriented.

"The subject of skill development will be implemented compulsorily from Classes 9 to 12 so that the youth of the state are self-reliant in all aspects," Khattar said. The chief minister later inaugurated astronomy labs set up on the premises of the Government Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School and the Government Girls Senior Secondary School in Bhiwani. After inaugurating the labs, he interacted with students.

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Khattar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized on inculcating scientific temper in children. "Generally, children studying in government schools are confined to the general curriculum. With the setting up of these labs, children belonging to the poorest of the poor families will be able to learn about the mysteries of the universe," he said.

Later, interacting with media persons at the 38th State Level Livestock Exhibition held here, he reiterated that the Centre was making all-out efforts to evacuate Indians stuck in war-hit Ukraine. The Haryana government is in constant touch with the Union Ministry of External Affairs to bring back residents of the state, including students, from Ukraine, he said.

Speaking at the livestock exhibition, where he also took a camel ride, Khattar appealed to farmers to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and said his government was soon going to organise a conference on zero-budget farming. Zero-budget natural farming reduces the cost of agriculture by relying on traditional field-based technologies which lead to improved soil health. By connecting the agricultural sector with scientific and new technology, expenditure of farmers can be reduced, Khattar said.

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"Apart from this, we can make the land fertile by using dung manure, cow urine etc. The government is going to start an active campaign to strengthen the concept of zero-budget farming," he added. He said many loan and grant schemes were being run to encourage allied businesses of agriculture like bee-keeping, dairy, mushroom production etc. to increase the income of farmers.