CHANDIGARH: From this academic year onwards, not only the students but even their parents and grandparents will get a chance to go to school to receive formal education. With an aim to uplift the adult education wing and reach out to maximum uneducated residents, UT education department is all set to start Continuing Education Centres ( CEC ) in government schools. In these centres, the adults will be able to study regular subjects as well as vocational subjects. They will be required to sit for exams like other school-going students.A proposal in this regard was sent by deputy director, adult education Rajinder Kaur to director school education Rubinderjit Singh Brar who approved it.So far these centres have been running from houses in different villages and peripheral areas. According to education department officials, there was no proper record of how many people have been participating in these adult centres and how many centres were actually working. As per the UT officials, the opening of centres and courses will depend on the response received on the enrolment front.The classes would run from 3pm to 5pm. Parents of the students will be taught by ‘preraks’ (motivators) in the government schools.“Since the number of centres is expected to come down, we are mulling over increasing the amount paid to the ‘preraks’,” said director school education Rubinderjit Singh Brar. At present the ‘preraks’ are paid around Rs 700 per month.“One the centres start running in government schools, we will have clarity on enrolment and number of centres that are operational. Also in a recent meeting organised by ministry of human resource and development in Srinagar we were told that there should be a program wherein classes IX and X students should teach their grandparents. So we will start this initiative in these adult education centres as teaching their grandparents might not be possible for the students at home.”In the centres, the adults will be able to pick up their studies from where they left. “For instance, if someone had left their studies in Class V, they will be allowed to pursue their education from Class VI onwards,” shared deputy director, adult education, Rajinder Kaur. The adults won’t be required to submit any certificate as a proof of their education level. “If we start asking for such certificates it will demotivate them from coming to the centres as most of them won’t be having any certificate,” said Kaur.She added the students in government schools will be motivated to further ask their parents and other adults in the family to join the centres and gain the maximum benefit from it. At these centres, the learners will also be provided with free training in various vocational courses, which will help them raise their standard of living. Sewing, dress designing, embroidery, bead work, bag work, carpet weaving, dyeing and printing, soap making, candle making, food preservation, kitchen gardening, health care and beauty culture, chalk making, bakery are some of the skills the adults will be trained in as part of vocational subjects.

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