Mumbai
Students who score poorly in their board exams are being asked to take commerce, vocational courses or even diplomas in engineering by career counsellors and education experts from the city.
Updated : May 29, 2015, 07:30 AM IST
It's the bottom of the pyramid, but not the end of the world. Students who have scored 35 to 45% in their board exams need not despair or take any extreme step to harm themselves. Many educational choices remain open for them, and can lead them towards fruitful careers.
Students who score poorly in their board exams are being asked to take commerce, vocational courses or even diplomas in engineering by career counsellors and education experts from the city.
Qurrat Ulain Kapasi, head career counsellor, Young Buzz, said, "Yes we do get students with low grades. But the number is very less. These students can chose careers in commerce as arts need a lot of reading with which they might not be able to cope. Otherwise they can go for courses like hotel management, BMS, computer courses or vocational courses. We tell them that scoring low grades is not the end of the world."
According to the education experts, the students who have scored below 50% in their Standard X board exams can opt for Minimum Competency and Vocational Courses (MCVC) in junior colleges.
In 1989, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi, began MCVC courses to help students acquire generic technical knowledge, vocational skills and also to promote self-employability through job-oriented courses.
A Vice Principal from a western zone college said, "Students with low grade have lots of option and career. They can go for MCVC courses in science and commerce and after that they can do a degree in science or commerce. They can do a medical lab technician's course, or electrician's course under MCVC. The problem is that the parents don't know whom to approach, and what is the right course for their child who has scored poorly in the boards."
SK Mahajan, nodal officer cum director, directorate of technical education (DTE), said, "Students who pass their grade X can take a diploma course in engineering. The student need not score high percentage to go in for the diploma in engineering. Passing the board exam is the only criteria for entry to the course. The DTE conducts the online admission for these students separately. But the students don't get the college of their choice. There are 485 colleges in Maharashtra that offer diplomas in engineering."
Soon after the X state board results are declared, the DTE announces its schedule of admission to the diploma in engineering courses.