Age bar dips for career counselling

Students are starting out young, and why not? Career choices are no more a constraint, thanks to the new-age economy. Parents and schools are into early aptitude-mapping for the students. The aim: to prevent them from ending up in jobs not in sync with their abilities.

Earlier it happened in colleges; now students are being introduced to career options as early as in classes VII and VIII. Academicians feel parents do not want their children to waste time in learning subjects that won’t help their careers.

Schools are helping them out in this. While some hire professional counselling institutes, others have full-time in-house career counsellors on board, a concept more prevalent in colleges.

“Rapid advances in technology has given rise to a plethora of new career options and the best way to choose a career is to stay informed,” said a circular released by Campion High School, Colaba, to parents. The school had a career counselling session for class VIII students in January. The idea is to help students decide their careers on the basis of their scores and inclination.

“Based on their aptitude, we guide students to pick up a subject in class IX that will help them in future. This will be an ongoing process till they reach class XII,” said Paul Machado, the principal.

Sudeshna Chatterjee, principal, Jamnabai Narsee School, Vile Parle, said, “Students drop mathematics in secondary school without realising its importance for their careers. By doing this, they shut the doors on several options.’’

The school has an in-house career counsellor for students from all classes. In DY Patil International School (DYPIS), Worli, the management does not have a common forum for class VIII students, but students are asked to meet the career counsellor and the academic director individually with their parents.    

“Parents and students want to know about the options available at a young age. When they find something suitable they are able to channelise their resources in that direction,” said Husein Burhani, academic director, DYPIS. Aptitude test, personal interview and group discussion are part of the activities that the school undertakes to decide the right choice for students.

Youngbuzz India Limited, a career counselling agency, conducts career guidance programmes for several prominent schools in the city. Bharati Gandhi, the director, said, “Students are not mature enough at the age of 13 to make informed choices. It is very important to introduce them to different careers and their requirements.”

She added that many parents and students do not know that mathematics is compulsory for a career in architecture and they drop mathematics at an early age.