24 state boards seek NCVET recognition to offer vocational training to students

TWenty-four school day boards ar in the treat of getting acknowledgment as dual category awarding bodies — a position that will authorise them to conduct both training and assessment for vocational courses offered to students — in a major push to integrate vocational education with the formal schooling system in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.While eight state and Union Territory (UT) school boards have submitted their online application forms for the recognition, 16 have initiated the process by registering on the portal of National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET), the regulator for skilling and vocational education in India.Officials from NCVET, education ministry and state boards have said that the recognition of state boards as dual awarding bodies will help in strengthening the skilling ecosystem in their respective states and UTs.The school boards from eight states and UT, which have submitted their online application forms for getting recognition as dual ABs, are Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Nagaland.NCVET, which functions under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), had already recognised Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) as dual Awarding Bodies (ABs) on July 5, 2023, and August 4, 2023, respectively.After becoming dual ABs, school boards will be able to integrate skill-based courses directly into the school curriculum and certify students in line with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) qualifications under the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), a set of guidelines aligned to shape school curriculum, teaching, and assessment. NSQF is India’s competency-based framework that organizes qualifications according to levels of knowledge, skills, and aptitude.“The application process is open throughout the year. Given the provisions of the NCF, which mandates NSQF-aligned vocational qualifications in Grades 9 and 10, and offers them as optional in Grades 11 and 12, it is imperative that school boards pursue NCVET recognition as soon as possible to enable timely implementation,” NCVET said on July 30 in response to HT’s queries.The application process started on July 18 during a national workshop organised by officials of ministry of education, MSDE and NCVET in Delhi to guide state and UT boards on the onboarding process for becoming a dual category ABs.“During the workshop, NCVET officials told us about how to upload documents and the criteria that need to be fulfilled for getting recognition as dual awarding ABs. We have submitted the application process on July 23 and are waiting for approval,” Dr Arif Jan, deputy director academics at the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) told HT. “We are currently dependent upon sector specific councils (SSCs) for assessment and certification purposes for vocational and skill courses. However, we will be able to design the courses in line with NCVET guidelines and assess and certify the learners after getting the recognition as dual AB,” he added. SSCs are industry-led bodies that operate under NCVET to ensure skill development is aligned with industry needs in specific sectors of the economy.Under the NCVET framework, ABs are classified as standard or dual ABs. A standard AB delivers vocational training but relies on third-party agencies for assessment and certification. In contrast, a dual AB is empowered to handle both training and assessment internally, offering end-to-end control over vocational education delivery.School boards becoming dual awarding bodiesMSDE in a press statement on July 18 said that with the help of frameworks such as the National Credit Framework (NCrF), Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), and NCF, the state and UT boards will “now be better positioned to design, deliver, and assess courses till NSQF 4 — levels most relevant for grassroots skilling and employment”.As of July 2025, there are 1,482 active NSQF-aligned qualifications up to Level 4, including 223 future skills courses related to digital literacy, data handling, AI basics, and green skills among others.The NCrF allows credit accumulation and transfer across school, skill, and higher education, while the ABC digitally stores these credits. Together, they link NCF and NSQF by allowing smooth mobility between general and vocational learning pathways.“The accumulated credits which are transferable across institutions and levels of education will ensure that vocational education holds equal value in the broader education ecosystem,” NCVET said.A senior education ministry official said students get familiar with skilling in Classes 6 to 8 and they have to compulsorily study skill subjects in Classes 9 to 12 “We have asked all the state and UT school boards to become an assessment and awarding body for vocational and skill education. We are hoping that all the state and UT school boards will be on the NCVET portal as dual awarding bodies within this academic year 2025-26,” he said.India has 66 school boards, including two central regular examination boards (CBSE and CISCE), 52 state and UT boards and 12 open boards (including NIOS and 11 state open boards). Among the 52 state and UT boards, 35 conduct both secondary and higher secondary exams, while 17 boards are there for each level.Tadeu Braganza, system analyst at Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, who attended NCVET’s July 18 workshop said that Goa Board is awaiting approval from NCVET for recognition as a dual awarding body after submitting the application.“But as instructed by NCVET officials, we have to start working on the different areas. As soon as the Goa Legislative Assembly’s monsoon session is over [On August 8] the chairman of the Goa board will execute the plan formulated for instructors and will hold a meeting with subject experts and experts from different industries to design the curriculum as per the requirement of the state of Goa,” he said.Under the recently notified ‘Guidelines for Recognition and Regulation of Awarding Bodies, 2025,’ the school boards are required to meet only 3 out of the 8 eligibility criteria: having a comprehensive future plan for vocational education, a functional grievance redressal mechanism, and operational readiness (including question banks, assessment protocols, governance systems, and manpower).They are exempt from five other standard requirements applicable to government undertakings and private institutions: legal registration, prior experience, financial capacity, infrastructure, and third-party arrangements.After becoming dual ABs, school boards can offer vocational education subjects in three formats: as part of the core curriculum, as additional qualifications for enrolled students, and through outreach programmes for others.Challenges and way forwardThe limited institutional capacity of many school boards which mainly function as school examination conducting bodies, is a major challenge in offering vocational education.Jyotismita Borah, deputy coordinator, Assam Higher Secondary Education Council, said that there is a scarcity of subject matter experts within the board to design the vocational and skill training curriculum for students. “As an assessing body, we will have lots of subject matter experts as we will sign MoU with technical education institutions. We will take their help in designing a skill curriculum. Our function as a dual awarding body will benefit students to get certificates up to NSQF-level 4 which will help them in acquiring skill and getting employment in future,” she said.PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), the national assessment centre under NCERT, has been pushing for the inclusion of skill-based subjects in school curricula by working with state boards to align the assessment frameworks, into a competency based scheme and employability skills.Indrani Bhaduri, chief executive officer of national assessment centre PARAKH, said that state boards becoming dual ABs, will offer multiple benefits to students.“By embedding vocational education into regular school learning, students can explore diverse career paths early in their academic journey. It opens up opportunities for hands-on learning, industry exposure, and skill development, thereby improving their employability and reducing the gap between education and workforce readiness. Furthermore, it supports holistic development by catering to varied learning interests and abilities, fostering a more inclusive and practical education system. The holistic progress card (HPC) at the secondary stage developed by PARAKH, has all of these integrated in the system,” she said.HPC is a holistic, 360-degree, multidimensional report that reflects the progress as well as the uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains.