The Significance of Career Guidance for High School Students

The debate is around how 10th / 12th results could be improved in India often excludes the issue of career guidance. Without career guidance, some of these Students will not be able to make informed choices when it comes to their future career paths.

India is getting obsessed with the improved 10th / 12th results while no attention is given to career guidance. Lack of career guidance at our schools is evident when year after year the majority of these learners flock to universities while Higher education, Vocational training colleges are far from achieving government’s target.

However, a large number of students will not be able to pursue their studies at institutions of higher education due to lack of career guidance at schools. Proper career guidance would have assisted many students with early applications at universities and/or further education and training colleges, selection of career paths at an early stage, and with more career options other than enrolling at these institutions. I strongly believe that proper career guidance would have at least made this situation manageable for students and the institutions of higher education.

Our education system should prepare the learners at least from Grade 9 onwards when it comes to choosing career paths. In order to achieve this, the schools should dedicate the beginning of every year to career guidance or include it in the curriculum. This will allow learners to select subjects that are in line with their future plans. Career guidance can go a long way in giving students the confidence to decide where they want to be in future.

In my conversations, I came across a number of youngsters who did not have a clue about their career ambitions. This does not paint a good picture for the entire country because it means that Institutions do not prepare the learners for post-school or they lack the capacity to offer career guidance to learners.

Drop Outs should also be included, while we encourage Students to study subjects such as Mathematics and Science, we should always remember that some of these students have good marks in these subjects. In situations like this, the Department of Higher Education and Vocational Training should take a stand and inform high school students about the availability of loans from government, the private sector and foreign funding agencies. Lack of information or access to information in rural areas has also been a contributing factor.

I am of the view that such topics should be covered in career exhibitions whereby public institutions of higher education and funding agencies are invited to provide information about their programmes to students.

Higher education and training colleges should also encourage learners to enroll with them in order to reduce the influx of students to the universities. Students need to be made aware that higher education colleges also offer programmes that could drive the growth of our economy. These programmes, which most of them are referred to as ‘scarce skills’, have the potential to equip them with the necessary skills to drive the economic growth of this country in future. This will help turn India into a country which will only export skilled professionals.

Career Counsellors no way I would call them Life Orientation Teachers should take up the duty of career guidance. In addition, the schools should deploy Life Orientation Teachers in their institutes to offer career guidance to students on a full-time basis. If government cannot make it mandatory, it is in best interest of a School to have at least one Life Orientation Teachers that will cater the school.

Standing together as a nation in navigating the right education for the careers of our Students could help build a country free from social ills such as poverty, unemployment and crime.