VOCATIONAL EDUCATION UNDER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OPEN SCHOOLING (NIOS)
Triveni Goswami Vernal
Registered Special Educator (A64010)

The department of Vocational Education under NIOS plays an integral role in imparting holistic education, beyond the narrow confines of purely academic pursuits, at both the school level and beyond. The Vocational Education program of NIOS aims to meet the “need for skilled and middle-level manpower for the growing sectors of economy, both organized and unorganized” (Accessed from the website https://www.nios.ac.in/departmentsunits/vocational-education.aspx).

There are several kinds of Vocational courses that are provided by NIOS and for most of the courses, the minimum qualification required is Secondary or Senior Secondary education, or for a minimal number of courses, an individual needs to have passed Class 8.
STAND ALONE COURSES (Accessed from the website https://www.nios.ac.in/departmentsunits/vocational-education/stand-alone-courses.aspx ):
FOR SECONDARY LEVEL:
• Carpentry
• Solar Energy Technician
• Biogas Energy Technician
• Bakery and Confectionery
• Welding Technology
• Secondary Level: Typewriting Hindi/English
FOR SENIOR SECONDARY LEVEL
• Typewriting Hindi/English
• Stenography Hindi/English
• Secretarial Practice
• Senior Secondary Level: Word Processing (MS-Word)
• Stenography Urdu
• Typewriting Urdu
• Plant Protection
• Water Management for Crop Production
• Oyster Mushroom Production Technology
• Furniture and Cabinet Making
• Electro-Plating
• Housekeeping
• Catering Management
• Food Processing
• Play Centre Management
• Hotel Front Office Operations
• Poultry Farming
• Soil and Fertilizer Management
• Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables

Thus, we see that there are a wide range of opportunities available for Vocational Education across several fields of science, technology and humanities, under NIOS. An individual can opt for a course, depending on one’s degree of interest as well as the accessibility and availability of the courses in their chosen centre under NIOS. 

RESOURCES:
https://www.nios.ac.in/departmentsunits/vocational-education.aspx
https://www.nios.ac.in/media/documents/compendiumhsccourses.pdf
https://voc.nios.ac.in/
https://nios.ac.in/online-course-material/vocational-courses.aspx

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