Polytechnic courses set for changes with soft skills, yoga, startup studies

Mumbai: Post-SSC polytechnic courses in the state will undergo changes, in line with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, with the inclusion of subjects such as soft skills, social and life skills, yoga, entrepreneurship, Indian knowledge systems, environment and sustainability, management, startup studies, among others. The state govt is planning to start admissions to post-SSC polytechnic programmes from May 20.

There are nearly 1 lakh polytechnic seats in the state. Last year saw over 1.5 lakh aspirants.

While govt had planned to change the service provider for the online process, it has decided to continue with the same vendor this year to avoid admission delays.

The updated ‘K Scheme’ curriculum for diploma courses, introduced by Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education, has a stronger focus on skill development, emerging technologies and industry readiness. Implemented under the guidance of Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), it follows an outcome-based credit system comprising six semesters and 120 credits. Students have also been given the option to study and appear for exams in both English and Marathi.

In a bid to strengthen practical exposure, the duration of industrial training has been increased from six weeks to 12 weeks.

To further promote skill development, the board has also established nine Centres of Excellence in areas such as robotics, internet of things and 3D printing, along with 41 multipurpose computer centres and five e-Yantra labs across the state.

Higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil announced the admissions and asked students to take advantage of the reforms under NEP. Polytechnic courses allow for a lateral entry into second-year engineering courses and help students gain skills to become technicians, engineers and entrepreneurs, he said, adding that students bag packages of up to Rs 1 lakh through placements.

Due to curricula and various initiatives undertaken by DTE, the admission rate in diploma courses rose from 80% in 2022-23 to 95% in the last academic session.