School curriculum is changing with the passage of time and new courses are being added to upgrade students with the latest courses. With insistence on practical aspects in the NEP 2020, students are encouraged to be hands-on.

Many city schools are investing their resources in exposing students to subjects, which are beyond their curricula.

Heritage School has woodcraft, lac work, tie & dye, batik printing, and weaving as subjects, supported by two huge Potter’s wheels and two brick kilns and looms. The school has been dabbling with the subjects for close to 20 years. The school has close to 30 activity teachers for the courses.

Heritage School principal Seema Sapru said, “The idea is not to make children carpenters and mechanics. We want the children to have hands-on experience. The idea is to help children get on with the grassroots to the CEO level.”

The school also has dance and music classes. Children learn these activities, carry on with them and write an exam to get certificates. This allows them to showcase their talent and know where they stand vis-a-vis other students, said a teacher.

The principal said that the school has an open book assessment and also a mock parliament. “I think considering the book as the ultimate does not help, you need to explore beyond the book,” said the principal.

DPS Ruby Park School follows diverse learning for a holistic education.

In accordance with the CBSE circulars and NEP 2020’s emphasis on holistic education, DPS Ruby Park offers a wide range of learning opportunities for students across all levels. For Classes VI-VII, the school has introduced various skill-based modules. Students were presented with 10 options to choose from, allowing them to explore their interests. Classes are held on Saturdays and students receive 12 hours of training in their chosen skill, said school authorities.

Taking into cognizance the importance of artificial intelligence, the school offers it as a 6th subject option for students from Class IX and X. The school offers a unique selection of 11 subjects for Classes XI-XII, including entrepreneurship, legal studies, arts, humanities and sciences, to choose from as their 6th subject.

“Having a 6th subject allows students to integrate their learning across disciplines, preparing them for a wider range of career paths which is a tremendous advantage considering the dynamic job market scenario,” said the principal of Delhi Public School Ruby Park, Joyoti Chaudhuri, adding, “This flexibility aligns with universities offering diverse subject combinations, opening doors to a variety of career opportunities.”

In conclusion, the school’s vision is to empower students to explore their interests, develop a well-rounded skill set, and make them future-ready.

Principal Chaudhuri said, “The students of Classes IX-XII will appear for examination in these subjects and their marks will reflect in the progress cards.”

The Ashok Hall Group of Schools places a lot of emphasis on upskilling the students as they study their regular subjects. The emphasis is on the importance of the extra-curricular subjects, designed for the students.

Shraddha Oza, coordinator, of Ashok Hall Group of Schools, said, “Before deciding on a subject, I keep in mind what subjects would interest students and how it will help them if they choose to pursue that subject in future. Subjects like financial investment, filmmaking and film studies were introduced with said philosophy. We have seen that parents usually do not share investment matters with their kids. With the way the world is developing, we felt that Class XI & XII students need to be aware of these developments. They should know money and wealth and how they should spend and save when they start earning.”

For the public communication subject, the idea was to train students on how to conduct themselves when they are about to enter college and how to look for colleges. The schools have western dance, music, basketball, archery, content and blogging, and social media marketing as ECA subjects, out of many others.

“I have seen one student making money during Covid through content creation. There are many Youtubers among our students. There is a lot of knowledge and exposure in the students over the last few years,” said the coordinator of the Ashok Hall Group of schools.

Mahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar School, a member of the Ashok Hall Group, has entrepreneurship, which allows the students to express their ideas freely.