My friend, Ms S.K. Manimekalai, an English teacher
sent me the following report on a seminar that she attended. I thought it
deserves to be brought to more readers. I’m reproducing below the report as it
was sent to me.
Ms Pervin Malhotra,
Director of Career Guidance India (CARING), New Delhi, is India's top career
counsellor. As a columnist in Times of India, her Query Columns reach an
audience of 300 million people. Her Career - i - Opener test (www.careerguidanceindia.com) has
been helping the youth across the nation to discover the career that is just
right for them. A highly informative Career
Counselling Session for the Students of Class X and their Parents was conducted
by Ms. Pervin on December 29th, 2018 in the KG Hall of DPS Mathura
Road. The session was also attended by the teachers teaching in classes IX and
X. The following are the highlights of her keynote address:
Robots are replacing not
only mechanical jobs like serving coffee etc., but are also performing activities
of an intelligent career like that of playing chess. Human knowledge is
constantly evolving. Information is bombarding through internet. Life has no
syllabus and careers have no curriculum. So what should be done?
Both parents and
students should change their conventional mindset of choosing careers like
engineering, IAS, etc. IITs alone cannot guarantee you all success. 85% of
Engineering students are unemployable or unemployed today. So no need to
be obsessed with MBBS or IIT. Even a Bachelor's degree done neatly well
can take them to great levels in their career. For instance, a boy who had done
his graduation in journalism was picked up by IBM and he went on to work with
Oracle.
Hence, students should
be given a chance to explore careers today, because there are about 3550+
careers available today and they are still increasing. We are living in an interconnected
world of careers. For example, now there has emerged a new career called
Mechatronics from Mechanical Engineering and Electronics. How should we prepare
students then?
The process of exploring
careers and choosing the right career should be started at a very early stage.
Not at the last moment around their exams. They should be made aware about the
fact that the knowledge level takes a quantum jump from class X to class XI. Learning
should become a continuous habit and it shouldn't be done only for one time
success, because an 85% scorer in class X may become a 65% scorer in class XII. Love
for learning should be inculcated in the young minds. They should not stop
learning only for exams, but also for their life and career after formal
education. The habit of Reading
Around should be cultivated by them. Reading Around is learning the topics
learnt in class further by exploring and studying them through net or other
resources, say newspaper, etc. and other things happening in their
surroundings.
Students today cannot
complain about paucity of time to update themselves on current affairs. The three
hours spent on gadgets like mobile phones can easily used otherwise. Mobile
phones can be used as a learning tool to update themselves with current
affairs. It is a phenomenal learning tool. For example, Quora is a site of
experts and experienced people. One can make best use of the information
available on this site and become well informed about various issues related to
careers and other requirements.
Parents and teachers
should make students realise that success can be a trap. Students who score
highly in class X may not be as successful in higher classes. They can
seek help of tests like 'Career-i-Opener' which might cost them less than a
pizza, i.e., Rs. 495. They are certainly not sure of their future career though
they announce one to the world. They should be given a chance to explore
careers. Besides, we should also help them develop their communication and
social skills. Because a career is not just about studies. It is also their
ability to socialise and communicate. Communication skill doesn't mean that
they should be able to speak in English fluently. They should also be able to
listen to what the other person says and understand what they expect. So we
should let them develop their social skills as well and become successful in
their career.
However, all these
skills can only be nurtured by students through hard work. Young people tend to
look for a career that doesn't involve so much hard work. But there is no such career
that doesn't involve hard work. This should be reiterated and they should be
trained to work hard. Then success is all theirs.
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