Vocational qualifications are work-related ones and they are designed to allow a student to learn skills employers are looking for, said the assistant education officer (physical education & sports), CBSE, Pushkar Vohra.

The board has come out with course content that consists of five units in theory and practical element focusing on working in a gymnasium. Schools have been asked to appoint a permanent post-graduate teacher in physical education.

Students would undergo 15 days in-house internship training in the gym the board designates during summer holidays as they go from Class XI to Class XII. Schools or students can bear the cost for attending the internship training.

K. Shrishti, a parent, welcomed the course but said that CBSE should not ask students to pay for the internship training as it would force students to skip it. “Instead of making the course optional, the board can make it mandatory for all students as it will improve their physique,” she said.