‘Well-heeled’ help for Karnataka government school kids

The Karnataka state primary and secondary education department will set up an exclusive career guidance cell at government high schools. The cell will offer career guidance to SSLC students.
There are about 5,000 government high schools in the state and, every year, more than 8 lakh students appear for the SSLC examinations. “It is common that most students are confused about what to do after SSLC. Our primary aim is to guide these students in the right way and help them find a career in the field they are interested in,” said HS Ramarao, director, Directorate of State Education, Research and Training (DSERT).

The responsibility of implementing the programme has been given to DSERT. Through the DSERT, the Regional Institute of Education, Mysore, will train at least two teachers from each high school.

“We’re preparing a module for this, and the groundwork is on. The preliminary work will be completed in the next 15 days and the programme will be implemented in this academic year,” confirmed Ramarao.

DSERT officials said the cell is not just restricted to career guidance. Trained teachers will help students who are stressed or facing exam fear. “For SSLC students, stress and exam fear are common. So, we will train teachers on conducting counselling for needy students,” Ramarao said. With the help of the class teacher, the trained teacher can identify students who are under stress. “Moral support is important for students who are stressed out and are facing exam fear. In such cases, the teachers will act as counsellors. If the case is serious, they will be referred to psychiatrists,” said officials.

Along with course guidance, the cell will also inform students about job opportunities after SSLC in various fields. “The cell will also bring resource persons from industries and commerce department to educate students about the avenues in those fields,” he said.