Prayagraj (UP), May 3 : With less than 1 per cent of total students registering for vocational courses in class 10 and class 12 exams of UP Board, officials of the state's Secondary Education Department have now issued orders for efforts to be made to encourage more and more students to take them up. The board spends lakhs of rupees in getting question papers of these subjects made annually. The officials concede that the situation needs to be redressed as the entire focus of the central and state governments is on skill development and providing employment-oriented education to students. Mahendra Dev, the director of secondary education, has sent a letter to all district inspectors of schools (DIOSs) instructing them to register the maximum number of students possible for these vocational courses. Vocational education scheme is operational in 892 government and government-aided secondary schools of the state, the official added. The letter points out that guest subject experts have brought to the notice of senior officials that principals of many schools do not take admission of students in these vocational subjects due to their own wilful or negligent attitude. This is leading to a low count of registration in these trade subjects on offer. Some principals have even initiated process for closing down these trade subjects in their campuses after first, not giving admission to interested students in these approved trades, and adjusting the admitted students in other subjects deliberately. The letter further points out that there is a provision to admit a minimum of 25 students or even 10 students under special circumstances in these trades. DIOS of Prayagraj, P.N. Singh, said that instructions have been received to ensure admission of maximum number of students in vocational courses. "The responsibility of the principals of the schools concerned where the number of students will be less will also be fixed as part of this exercise to encourage students to opt for vocational trade subjects on offer at class 10 and class 12 levels," he said. Although vocational courses have been available for UP Board students for years now, courses in trades of plumber, solar-powered equipment repairing, disaster management and electrician were started for high school students only in 2023. However, out of 31,16,454 students who registered for class 10 exams in 2023, not even one took admission in any of these courses. Many other vocational subjects on offer at high school level also did not fare well like health care which had just four students, automobile which had eight, retail trading which had 19, mobile repairing which had 22 in and even IT that attracted mere 38 students across the state. The number of students enrolling for intermediate-level vocational courses was also very less in 2023. /IANS