April 05, 2019;

The Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) attempt to provide holistic education through experiential learning by introducing a wide range of vocational subjects in schools has not found many takers.

Only one student in the country wrote the Class 12 CBSE exam for theatre studies, an optional vocational subject offered by the board, while another one wrote the gender and human rights exam.

Apart from the compulsory subjects, students are supposed to choose at least three vocational subjects in Class 11 and 12. This choice also depends on whether their schools provide those options.

'We had to follow the whole protocol for that one student in terms of conducting the exam, setting the question paper,' said CBSE secretary Anurag Tripathy, referring to the theatre studies and gender and human rights courses.

The board conducted exams in around 55 skill subjects, including retail, information technology, tourism, beauty and wellness, agriculture, food production and health insurance for Class 12 students.

According to senior officials in the board, there were four other subjects in which less than 10 students wrote the exam — Carnatic music, Mohiniyattam dance, library and infrastructural science and health centre management.

'This shows either very few students are interested in taking these subjects, or schools are not offering them. We have given schools the option to offer these subjects, but if they do not take initiative and provide the infrastructure, we cannot do anything about it,' said Tripathy.

Another CBSE official said: 'Students are allowed to choose the option they want to pursue depending upon the availability of a particular course in a school. Many schools don't offer subjects that they think will not find any takers. No school wants to spend on infrastructure and resources for only one or two students.'

As a result of the cold response, the CBSE will not offer theatre studies, gender and human rights, Mohiniyattam dance and health centre management in the academic session 2019-20 — they're missing from the list of subjects uploaded by the board on its official website. Carnatic music will still be offered.

However, CBSE officials have refused to confirm if the subjects have been permanently removed.

Tripathy added that the board would see the response of students and find out if they are showing interest in subjects that the CBSE doesn't offer. If there is a demand for subjects, they can be added, else the board will remove them permanently.

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