Through a district-wide pilot in Sangli, Lend A Hand India (LAHI) is working with the district administration to train school leaders and teachers across 979 schools to implement the Kaushal Bodh curriculum for Grades 6 to 8. The initiative aims to bring the skill education vision of NEP 2020 into classrooms, with learnings that can inform scale-up across Maharashtra and beyond.
For decades, skill-based education in Indian schools functioned primarily as an optional, secondary track, confined to Grades 9 through 12 in a select number of institutions, rather than serving as an essential component of mainstream education.
The rollout of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the State Curriculum Framework (SCF) Maharashtra 2024 fundamentally transformed this by mandating compulsory, hands-on skill exposure for every single student starting from Grade 6. The curriculum is delivered in two stages alongside mainstream education – Kaushal Bodh, spanning Grades 6 to 8, introduces students to tools, materials and hands-on activities in a structured but exploratory manner.
Kaushal Vikas, beginning in Grade 9, shifts the focus from basic exposure to skill development. The goal is to ensure that by the time students graduate high school, they possess 21st-century competencies, digital literacy, and practical abilities that make them job-ready or entrepreneurial.
However, expanding skill education from fewer than 1,500 schools to over 25,000 institutions across Maharashtra presents a gap between policy intent and ground-level school reality. It is this implementation gap that Lend a Hand India (LAHI) has sought to address through its work with government school systems.
Bridging Policy and Classroom Realities
Lend A Hand India (LAHI), a Pune-headquartered non-profit founded in 2006 by Sunanda Mane and Raj Gilda, works at the intersection of education and livelihoods, with nearly two decades of experience integrating skill training into mainstream schooling.
The core philosophy of LAHI rests on the belief that skill education is not a consolation prize for academically disengaged students, nor is it simply about preparing a child for a specific trade. Vocational and skill-based learning is viewed as a vital pedagogical tool to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and dignity of labor alongside regular learning.
LAHI works with existing government systems to translate policy objectives into implementable models through technical expertise, curriculum design, teacher capacity building, and continuous monitoring, enabling systems to own and sustain the implementation of skill education at scale. To establish a low-cost, replicable implementation model for skill education in the schools of Maharashtra, LAHI launched the District Model beginning in the Sangli.
Selecting Sangli as Ground Blueprint
Sangli, a district on the banks of the river Krishna, is among the world’s busiest turmeric trading hubs, and home to Asia’s largest raisin market. It was in Kirloskarwadi, in Palus taluka, that Laxmanrao Kirloskar set up one of India’s earliest industrial townships. Almost every family here in Sangli is connected to skilled work of some kind: grape pruning and drip-irrigation systems in Tasgaon and the drought-prone talukas of Jath and Atpadi, motor repair sheds in taluka towns, dairy and agri-processing units along the Warana river, turmeric traders managing logistics and quality grading, and so on.
Skilled work has always surrounded the classroom in Sangli; in the fields, the mills and the workshops. What was missing was the chance for children to formally learn from the surrounding world of skills inside their own classrooms.
The initiative originated from an invitation to LAHI by Mr Vijayanand Joshi, Chairman of Sawarkar Pratishthan in Sangli, who sought to build a district-wide model for implementing skill education in schools. The initiative received immediate administrative backing from Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Mr. Vishal Narwade and District Education Officers, with a shared ambition to establish Sangli as a district-wide example of implementing vocational education under NEP 2020 and Maharashtra SCF 2024.
Mobilizing Leadership Across 979 Schools
The Sangli District Model began with an extensive Headmaster (HM) and Principal orientation phase across 979 schools, encompassing government schools, including Zilla Parishad and municipal schools, as well as private, aided, and self-funded schools across Marathi, English, Urdu, and Kannada mediums.
School leaders play a decisive role in making skill education part of everyday school practice. They are responsible for enabling timetable integration, allocating resources, supporting teachers, and creating the conditions for effective implementation. Recognising this, LAHI conducted leadership orientations at the taluka level across all 10 blocks, allowing local staffing, scheduling, and implementation realities to be addressed directly.
The orientations saw over 90 percent attendance, with school leaders receiving clarity on the skill education provisions under NEP 2020 and SCF Maharashtra 2024, their administrative responsibilities, and the importance of having trained teachers to translate these provisions into classroom practice.
The rollout was also strengthened by the proactive support of government officials and education administrators. Block Education Officers participated actively in the orientations and supported LAHI’s field teams with logistics, including accommodation at Zilla Parishad guest houses. This close collaboration between government officials, school leaders, and LAHI helped make the training process smoother while reinforcing shared ownership of the district-wide implementation.
Upskilling Over 1,900 Classroom Educators
Following the Headmaster orientation, LAHI began its ongoing teacher capacity-building program, which will cover more than 1,900 teachers across primary and secondary schools in the district. To ensure continuity despite teacher leave or transfers, LAHI trains two teachers from each participating school.
The training focuses on equipping teachers to move from predominantly lecture-based instruction towards hands-on, project-based learning. For Grades 6 to 8, where skill education is delivered through the Kaushal Bodh curriculum, teachers learn to facilitate 110 hours of annual practical learning using basic tools, locally available materials, and flexible classroom spaces.
They learn to translate technical concepts into accessible activities, manage safe practical sessions, facilitate collaborative problem-solving, and assess practical learning outcomes. This approach strengthens the capacity of existing teachers to deliver skill education in schools across the district.
Reflecting on the ongoing teacher capacity-building program across Sangli’s public schools, Kakasaheb Kadam, an Assistant Teacher at Zilla Parishad School Gundewadi, highlighted the collective vision of local educators:
“Our goal as headmasters and teachers across Sangli district is to nurture practical, action-oriented students equipped for tomorrow’s opportunities.”
Establishing Framework for Statewide Scale
The headmaster orientation and ongoing teacher training in Sangli are helping establish a framework for district-level scale. Alongside the setting up of Composite Skill Labs, LAHI has adopted a phased implementation strategy that complements infrastructure with institutional readiness, school-leader orientation, teacher capacity building, continuous monitoring, and sustained hand-holding to strengthen the delivery of skill education.
The experience in Sangli offers practical insights into how skill education under NEP 2020 can move from policy to classroom practice, and how these learnings could inform implementation across other districts in Maharashtra and beyond, laying the groundwork for a skilled and empowered generation.
Behind that shift are numbers that describe what district-wide can look like: 979 schools, over 1,900 teachers, and more than 90 percent leadership attendance across ten talukas. As Maharashtra works to take skill education to over 25,000 schools, and as other states look to do the same under NEP 2020, Sangli offers a blueprint to bring skill education to every classroom.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The Sangli District Model highlights that real educational reform relies on empowering the existing public system and its educators. By bringing together policy intent, local administration, CSR funding, and technical expertise, Lend A Hand India demonstrates how systemic collaboration can make skill education accessible and meaningful for every child.
How can local educational authorities across India adopt this district-level framework to make hands-on skill training an essential part of every child’s education?
