Kathmandu, September 4

The Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) is all set to introduce technical courses in grade XI from September 14. According to HSEB, it has already prepared the curriculum for grade XI and is awaiting approval from Ministry of Education (MoE), while the affiliation process for new plus two colleges is also in the final stage.

Jung Bahadur Aryal, chief, Curriculum Division, HSEB today said that they have already prepared new curriculum for five subjects—computer engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, animal science and plant science—for grade XI.

“We had sent the curriculum of five technical subjects to the MoE for approval on August 26,” he said. As per the annual academic calendar published recently by HSEB, the deadline for the approval of curriculum was September 3. However, HSEB has yet to receive the approved curriculum.

As per the annual calendar, the deadline for submission of feasibility report on new higher secondary schools to run technical education is September 9.

Likewise, HSEB should give its approval for additional subjects to be included in higher secondary schools by September 11, while the classes should begin by September 14, as per the annual calendar.

Similarly, annual exams should be conducted from the third week of June, 2016 and result published by mid-August, 2016.

Meanwhile, the schools are ready to run technical education classes in their schools.

Ram Hada, principal, Bhaktapur-based Shree Padma Higher Secondary School, said that they had already started preparation classes for technical subjects.

“We are waiting for HSEB to give us the green signal to commence classes formally.”Grade XI classes in the general stream has already begun from August 1.

Technical and Vocational Education in School education was introduced in grade IX from April 2013 in 99 schools of 71 districts across the country as part of School Sector Reform Plan (SSRP). First batch of technical students appeared in the SLC exams last year.

A total of 3,256 students from technical stream appeared in SLC exam-2071, in which 215 students got A+( equivalent to 90 to 100 marks), 779 students got A (80 to 89), 2,131 students got B (60 to 79), 124 got C (40 to 59), one got D (25 to 39) and none got E (below 25). Hada said only 85 schools have filed applications seeking permission to teach additional subjects.