CBSE's Mandatory Composite Skill Labs to Enhance Skill-Based Education

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) recently announced setting up the ‘Composite Skill Labs’ to enhance skill-based education in all CBSE-affiliated schools in line with the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE).

By combining education with industry demands and promoting real-world, experiential learning, this initiative seeks to give students the tools for efficient skill development.

As per the notification, many CBSE schools currently lack the necessary facilities and equipment to provide effective training to students.

It read, “It has been noted that many schools do not have the infrastructure and supplies needed to offer efficient hands-on instruction. Following a discussion of the issue at the 139th meeting of the Board’s Governing Body, all board-affiliated schools are required to set up a “Composite Skill Lab” with the tools and machinery required to implement the recommendations of NEP and NCF-SE.”

It added that all CBSE schools must establish two distinct labs, each with a space of 400 square feet, or one composite skill lab, with a minimum area of 600 square feet for Classes 6 to 12. Under the two-lab model, students in Classes 6 to 10 will have one lab, and students in Classes 11 and 12 will have another. The labs will be fully furnished with the technology and tools required to offer an extensive learning environment.

With a focus on the need for educational institutions to give students practical experience, the NCF-SE has promoted skill laboratories and vocational training centres inside the affiliated schools. These facilities are essential for offering the tools and setting required for efficient skill development and real-world, experiential learning.

According to the notification, these labs will facilitate the training of students in practical skills that are in line with industry demands, improve their employment prospects in a variety of trades and professions, allow them to explore career pathways beyond conventional options, and encourage their entrepreneurial spirit.