Thirty-three Indian secondary schools are piloting courses teaching the use of geospatial technologies.

Kapil Sabal, India’s minister for human resource and development launched the new courses last week.

“We need to prepare our children for the 21st century, which is going to be a century of enormous challenges,” he said.

“Both school and university education must strive to open up non-traditional areas of human endeavour for sustenance. As new career opportunities are beckoning students, we must be prepared to address their needs.”

Geospatial firm Rolta India will help in the preparation and delivery of the courses.

Sibal added that vocational studies need not necessarily be based on national curriculum and could be more tailored to certain industries.