By Anshu Mital
A lack of opportunities creates complacency, and a room full of opportunities creates confusion. A child’s mind is impressionable and pliable. Hence, it needs to be moulded correctly for them to grow and prosper in their careers and lives. Basically, career counselling is an essential exercise for a student’s holistic development. It helps in preparing students to succeed in the world of opportunity plateau. The common masses’ expectations regarding education deliverables have gone through a profound change. It is no more looked at as just a stage of life that students need to pass. Education is now seen as a means of opportunity creation. It is judged under the parameters of how much returns it will give if a student invests time in learning a particular subject. Rote learning has reached an impasse. Practical and Qualitative Learning has gained ground.
The value of a course or degree depends upon the volume of worthy opportunities it will create for the pursuant. Henceforth, Clarity is an essential prerogative. Career Counseling is important for multiple reasons. First, to help students gain a clear understanding of which fields/subject(s)/ course they would like to choose or continue with. Secondly, it allows students to explore career options or lesser-known courses that they might not even be aware of. Job markets have expanded, and its parallel effect can be gauged through the critical transformation of education culture in the past few years. Thirdly, career counselling not only promotes clarity of thought but also helps students in speech refinement, personality development, organisation of thoughts, and clear-worded expression. It also activates seeds of confidence-building and self-belief. Students do not feel the pressure to hide their emotions, play evasively, or indulge in prevarication. They can express their issues without any hesitation, which ultimately allows institutions to provide solutions and stamp out problems.
For this generation, Emotional Regulation is an Achilles Heel. Henceforth, many schools are undertaking active efforts to organise mental health awareness seminars for students to encourage them to accept their emotions and discuss their problems, such as bouts of anxiety and depression, because of several career-related dilemmas and personal quandaries. Some educational institutions are also hiring mental health coaches and professionals on a permanent basis so that students can go and seek help at their discretion at any time.
It allows students to gain emotional wisdom and intelligence, regulate negative thoughts and self-perceptions, and help them direct their focus towards studies and productive things. Due to excess social media usage, students are developing aggressive attributes and growing temperamental and haughty. The inclusion of Meditation and Yoga as main subjects is also a great step taken to prepare students in an age of uncertainties. Doing Meditation and Yoga will help students to imbibe a calm and composed attitude, an unflappable sense of self, and a sanguine psyche, which is all prerequisites to succeed in a nerve-wracking competitive world. It also bolsters productivity levels, improves concentration, and redirects focus towards things one can control.
Vocational Training and Foreign Language Classes have also become important aspects of modern-day learning. Broad-mindedness and the ability to learn something new every day are fundamental for long-lasting success. It transforms students into fast learners, diversifies opportunities for constant upskilling, and opens a room full of lucrative offers and jobs. It enhances their toolkits and leads to skill expansion. The world has become too demanding, hence students are expected to possess a range of skill sets which allows them to execute different job roles. The world of education is in flux and so should be its practices and modes of providing learning.
The author is Principal of MRG School, Rohini. Views are personal.