College students form shadow cabinet, don roles of Maharashtra CM, ministers

Maharashtra Skill Development Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha invited college students to his office to give them a glimpse of the government`s working and the ministry’s functioning. During the visit, the students were entrusted with the responsibilities of the Skill Development Ministry for an hour, with Rajvardhan Karande temporarily assuming the role of the Skill Development Minister.

Lodha said that it is for the first time that college students were given an opportunity to work within the department. Karande expressed his gratitude to the minister for the opportunity and also shared his insights on the functioning of the Skill Development Department, which is working towards providing the youth with training in relevant skills in line with the changing times to create more employment opportunities for them. 

The government has organised the `Young Inspirators Network` initiative for college students. Under this initiative, students are selected through an election process to represent the Maharashtra government through a shadow cabinet and given an opportunity to understand the working of the various departments and gain knowledge on public welfare schemes. 

While Smruddhi Tupe became the Chief Minister of the shadow cabinet, Parth Thorwat and Aryan Darade were her deputies, and Riya Khanolkar the Home Minister.

Speaking about the `Young Inspirators Network` initiative, Lodha said, “Today`s students are the future leaders, and it is essential to provide them with an experience of the administration`s working. These future representatives of our democracy will always remember this interaction with the administration. Even though it`s a small experience, it could serve as an inspiration for them to play leadership roles in the future. Such initiatives help students learn something new and expand their thoughts.”

Additional Chief Secretary Manisha Verma shared detailed information about the Central government schemes, various training programmes being conducted by the Skill Development Department, and its operations with the students.

State Curriculum Framework implementation: Maharashtra govt appoints 4 new members to panel 

The government has reinforced its State-Level Steering Committee, in an attempt to ensure effective and high-quality implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in Maharashtra.

The Union Ministry of Education had introduced NEP 2020 as a transformative reform in the education sector, and its implementation is currently being carried out in phases across Maharashtra. A key element of this policy is the State Curriculum Framework (SCF), designed to review the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), introduce necessary modifications, provide recommendations, and oversee the structured 5+3+3+4 education system.

The government plans to prepare the new SCF for school education. As provided in NEP 2020, this framework will be divided in four stages: foundational stage — which include three years of pre-schooling and classes 1 and 2 — followed by Class 3 to Class 5; Class 6 to Class 8, and Class 9 to Class 12.

To facilitate this transition, a 13 member State-Level Steering Committee was initially formed in 2023 under the chairmanship of the Minister for School Education.

Now, a government resolution (GR) has been issued and additional members were inducted to broaden its scope. 

Based on a proposal submitted by the Director of the State Council of Educational Research & Training (SCERT) Maharashtra, Pune, the state government has further expanded the committee to enhance its effectiveness.