By Sanjay Patil
There is excitement among class 12 students to choose their career paths and get admission to their dream colleges. However, in the present context, the options available for students after class 12 are broad and somewhat confusing. This is mainly because of parental influence and expectations, peer pressure, financial constraints, etc. However, the most common reasons could be not identifying their areas of interest, a lack of knowledge of their future career prospects, and a lack of understanding of future jobs and trends in a Vulnerable, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) world.
Here are some pointers to help students choose the right college:
Identify interest: First and foremost, students should list down their areas of interest, from most to least, that always fascinates them. For example, one could be interested in knowing how advanced electronic gadgets are designed, how mega civil infrastructures are built, how heavy mechanical machinery is manufactured, how people shine in sports, how to become an IAS officer, etc. They can choose the most interesting area that fascinates them and do extensive research. This will help them narrow down the best academic course. For example, should they pursue engineering or management or join a sports academy?
Research future trends: Once they identify the academic program from step 1, the next step is to identify the future trends in that area. We are currently living in the VUCA world. What we study today may be obsolete in 5 years. So, they should take expert advice and read expert reports/blogs to understand the future trends and career prospects in that area and how easily they could adapt to new changes.
Know the potential: Once they complete step 2, the next step is to know their potential to excel in that programme. They should look for the pre-requisites that they need to have before they enrol for that programme. Identify their shortcomings and make an additional effort to enhance their strengths.
Identify the institute: In this step, they need to research and prepare a list of institutes that provide a programme of interest and rank them on the following basis.
Infrastructure and Facilities:
Infrastructure is an essential element of the teaching-learning process. Apart from basic infrastructures like classrooms, auditoriums, canteen, hostels, playgrounds, indoor sports activities etc., one must look for efficient laboratories with the latest tools, equipment, and software the industry uses and state-of-the-art library facilities.
Industry-relevant curriculum:
The syllabus must have domain-specific as well as generic content. Domain syllabus makes one technically competent, and a generic syllabus upskills communication, ethical, behavioural, and interpersonal skills. In addition to domain knowledge, nowadays industry looks for candidates having generic skills. If the syllabus is obsolete and will not benefit the industry, they must look for other institutes.
Teaching learning and assessment
Students gain competencies and skills in their chosen area of interest if the institutes follow good teaching, learning and assessment practices. They must investigate teaching methodologies to discover if there are elements of experiential learning, project and problem-based learning, teaching through case studies, etc.
Quality teachers
It’s important to ask questions about the quality and qualifications of the teachers. Also, they must check whether the institute has a good mix of faculty from academia and industry so that they become acquainted with the theory and practical knowledge in the classroom.
Job placements
Every institute publishes its placement data on its portal, looks for placement data and sees which companies hire their students. Good placement ensures the institute has good facilities, a relevant curriculum, good teaching-learning practices, and quality teachers.
Accreditation
Accreditation conforms to a comprehensive set of local/global standards, which indicate academic rigour, quality, institutional excellence, and real-world applicability of the curriculum. This also demonstrates to employers that a graduate has met specific external benchmarks in professional aptitude. A recognized “seal of approval” means a better-quality education and a more marketable degree. So, students must look for a programme with a seal of approval from local or global accreditation bodies.
The author is associate dean, director at School of Construction, Mumbai,
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