The Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UP Board) has announced that vocational education will become mandatory for students in Classes 9 and 11 starting from the academic session 2026. This initiative aims to better connect school education with employability, equipping students with practical skills and preparing them for future challenges in the job market.
According to UP Board Secretary Bhagwati Singh, subject committees have already approved and submitted curricula for various vocational trades. These trades include information technology and allied fields, electronics, apparel, and beauty and wellness. The curricula were developed by subject experts through multiple meetings, under the guidance of Additional Secretary Satyendra Kumar Singh and Skand Shukla. The Central Institute of Vocational Education, Bhopal, also provided support in preparing the courses.
The approved curricula are designed to focus on current technological requirements, industry expectations, and enhancing students' employability. Practical, skill-based, and job-oriented content has been incorporated to ensure students gain relevant competencies. This move aligns with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) and will promote skill development, self-reliance, and vocational proficiency among students.
As a mandatory curriculum component, students in Classes 9 and 10 will have a choice of over 30 vocational electives, including photography, retail, computer applications, mobile repair, and solar system maintenance. For Class 9, schools will conduct internal assessments with equal weightage given to theory and practical components. For Class 10, the UP Board will conduct the examination for the theoretical component (50%), while schools will continue to assess practicals internally and forward the results to the Board. To ensure hands-on experience, schools will also be required to collaborate with nearby industrial or commercial establishments to offer mandatory internships of at least 10 days in the relevant job role.
The UP Board will integrate updated vocational curricula developed by the Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), Bhopal, which is a constituent of NCERT. This aims to modernize outdated vocational courses and align them with contemporary industry expectations.
The initiative will begin with Class 9 in the 2026-27 academic session, which starts on April 1, 2026, and expand to Class 11 by 2029. By 2030, the Board will also restructure the Intermediate (Class 12) examination. Students in the Humanities, Commerce, and Science streams will appear for six subjects instead of five, while Agriculture students will take seven subjects instead of six, with a vocational subject added as a mandatory component.
Several subject experts contributed to the process, including Sanjeev Kumar Arya, Virendra Nath Shukla, Dr. Aditi Goswami, Dr. Dilip Singh, and Dr. Avinash Pandey. Work is also underway to develop curricula for additional vocational trades. Each proposed vocational subject has a dedicated 10-member committee.
