Need of the Hour: Career Guidance & Career Planning in India

Indian Education has many issues to deal with. Since the year 1835 the British started tinkering with the India’s traditional education system of ‘Guru shyshya’ which was value based and focussed on outcome and application of learning.

The new age education came into being with schools and colleges being set up across India.

In 1948 when the Radhakrishnan Commission was set up with an intention of designing a new National University Education Policy of free India, the commission stressed on the outcome of education into social, economic and cultural goals of the nation.

Dr S Radhakrishnan in his words said:

“The most important and urgent reform needed in education is to transform it, to endeavor to relate it to the life, needs and aspirations of the people and thereby make it the powerful instrument of social, economic and cultural transformation necessary for the realization of the national goals. For this purpose, education should be developed so as to increase productivity, achieve social and national integration, accelerate the process of modernization and cultivate social, moral and spiritual values.” ⁵

Since 1956 Commissions and committees were set up to deal with non-implementation of earlier recommendations and identifying gaps in the Education system.

On the ground, apart from introducing little new regulatory compliance there were no major changes that could be effected towards building outcome of education to the social, economic and cultural goals of the country.

In reality the focus of higher education always has been away from the outcome and application to just input based education. Outcome here means the education resulting in either economic growth or increased capability of the learner.

Unfortunately today education has minimal relevance to occupation, passion, interest of the individual learner. The age old beliefs have created havoc in making a choice of education. The aspirational needs, abilities and interest of the individual have been ignored. This has led to non-compatibility, career failures, drop outs and unemployables.

Today the youth do not value higher education. They acquire degrees with no connection to their occupations they would like to pursue. This is visible with higher un-employability and unemployment in the country. Hence, the gross enrolment ratios and dropout rates are far from desired.

The government is doing all it can to improve access of education. It’s a known fact that 73% of the population lives in rural India, however 90% of the educational institutes are in urban India ⁶. I believe that it’s a superficial measure of increasing enrolments.

 

Towards Valuing Higher Education

The youth of India will value education only when they see benefits that result in their social, economic and personal growth. There needs to be sustained effort on helping the youth realize their potential and guide them into the right education which will lead them into a career that satisfying yet economically fulfilling.

Today 98% of young boys and 96% of young girls are confused while making a career decision⁷. The confusion is due to the lack of information and skill for making career decisions. This confusion drives them into making unfocussed investments of time, effort and money into education that may or may not deliver returns.

A scientific career guidance process with a reliable information base on education and career would transform the current scenario.

Guiding the student into taking up education that would lead to a career that’s compatible to his or her personal abilities, passion, interests, values and personality, would never let the interest levels in education diminish. Moreover, research tells us that students who are able to understand and internalize the connections between school and work will be more actively engaged in their academic tasks and will be more likely to succeed in high school ⁸

 

^{Excerpts from the paper ‘Relooking at the Indian Education System” Published by Anand Desai, Founder Dheya (www.dheya.com ), A complete Career Guidance and Planning Company.}

Technorati Tags: Career Guidance,Career Development,Career Planning. Indian Education System.

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Education in India: Is learning happening in Schools???

Penning down my thoughts on the way our kids learn in the current schooling system.

 

Does the school matter  anyhow ??

Schools irrespective of what medium,brand, funded or unfunded, the fact is learning has taken a back seat. Parents are expecting that their kids would turn into scholars once they get them admitted in the right school but its a big illusion. Age old beliefs like convent education being the best or English medium is better than the vernacular has played havoc. It doesn't matter which school the kid goes, learning matters the most.  

Lets understand what's happening in schools. May be I am generalizing and there could be exceptions. My thoughts are based on experiences and our findings after interacting with several schools.

From day one its the marks that the kid is thought to gain. I have seen parents pestering the kid on marks,I have also seen parents building personal relations, networking and flattering the class teacher to help their kid gain good marks. While its a fashion for the parents to tell others that their kid has gained more marks. What  they fail to understand that marks is just  a result of a that One or Two hour question paper that the kid answer after recitation. The strongest ability is  memory and recall and not the attainment of knowledge.

  

 

Hence there is no learning happening, its only the race for marks irrespective of the schools.

 

Does the Teacher Matter??

Till date the teaching profession was for those who don't get into the mainstream jobs or for house wives who need to spend some time outside. May be my statement would irk several people but its a fact.

In private schools its about ladies who have taken up this profession by some compulsion or just an occupation that keeps them occupied. Lack of passion towards the kids and teaching  is clearly visible. I have seen one of the renowned public school telling the requirement of the teacher that the lady should be good looking and well groomed. Teaching skills are not that important as the impression on the parents who spend a fortune is made by the looks of the teacher.

The salaries in private schools are bad. Since its not the main income in the family the level of perks and salaries are acceptable to ladies who take up teaching as a part time occupation. Even after 6th pay commission some school managements tell the aspiring candidates explicitly that the sixth pay commission salaries will not be applicable.

 

In such conditions passion for imparting knowledge or getting the student to learn is lost. Those parents who have the need engage their students to private tuitions at times to the same school teacher who give special attention to their  kid.

The big names in private tutorials are a joke. I don't understand why parents trust them. There are 40-50 students in a class in school, the private tutorials have more numbers sitting in a cramped place. The kids who have the guts to raise their doubts do it in schools as well as private tutorials and clarify their doubts. The rest of the kids keep mum with a fear of being laughed at for asking a question. What learning and understanding of concepts would happen any how??

The government/state/ municipal  schools even worst leaving some exceptions. Each state run school hires teachers who pass through a competitive exam. Unlike private schools the teachers come from needy background who consider teaching as the main occupation and source of income.  The competitive exam churns out the best in the lot who opt teaching as a profession. They may not be  well equipped with teaching aids plush classrooms but certainly have the knowledge of teaching. This lot of teachers take teaching for a secured job and not as a passion for imparting knowledge.  Ultimately the monotony and slow growth in their profession makes it an unattractive profession.

Irrespective of the schools the teachers are not driven towards results. Lack of passion, Lack of result orientation and performance measurement has destroyed the education culture in India.  

A serious  question comes in my mind.  What was bad in adopting the traditional education system and scaling it to masses?? It was the Gurukul system that has churned out the best students in the past. The Guru not only imparts knowledge but also drives in the Indian value system and ethos. The guru also mentors the pupil with learning avenues making the pupil capable and competent.  Our educationist blindly just adopted the westernized education system which has left the Indian population literate/qualified but not  educated.

Are exams effective ??

Exams is a game of TWO hours. Kids mug up for writing papers. I have seen kids singing and reciting  mathematical sums. The kids also know which are the probable questions. There are keys available in the market.

Exams today do not focus on practicality or the application of knowledge. Ultimately the marks gained is the measure of the  memory of the student that his knowledge.

Knowledge if not put to practical use is sheer waste. Today unfortunately ,there is NO education process in India that links to the practical usage of knowledge. There is lack of purposeful education that leads to economic and personal growth.

 

The toppers in exams are not necessarily the most successful in life. Do do exams matter after all. Can we get rid of exams and try to put a process that assesses the practical usage of knowledge the student has gained??

Are Teaching Techniques Effective??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teachers are trained in Education degrees like B.Ed, D.Ed and M.Ed that

text book is just the reference point. you need to teach the students more that just the text books. Invariably the teaching is just limited to text books.

Today in the kids are tech savvy, they have seen computer games, they have seen cartoons on television, they love to see and then learn. They would like to experience and learn.

Here is a suggestion, can we integrate cartoons, national geographic, the history channel , games and checklist base education that engages the kid in learning, understanding , experiencing and playing with the topics to gain knowledge??

With the current system in education its the a dooms day in waiting, The so called educationists need to wakeup fast or just step aside to let the private players take over. Its the issue of nation building and is critical. Its absolutely important for to student to understand the purpose of his learning and what career/occupation he/she plans to pursue post his education.

 

Research has proven that students who internalize the relation between what they are doing today in academics, why are they studying what they are studying and how it will help in their career, do well in their academics.   

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Law and Freedom: Learning from Swami Vivekananda.

The struggle never had meaning for the man who is free. But for us it has a meaning, because it is name-and-form that creates the world. We have a place for struggle in the Vedanta, but not for fear. All fears will vanish when you begin to assert your own nature. If you think that you are bound, bound you will remain. If you think you are free, free you will be.

If we could get rid of the belief in our limitations, it would be possible for us to do everything just now.

This life is a tremendous assertion of freedom; and this obedience to law, carried far enough, would make us simply matter — either in society, or in politics, or in religion. Too many laws are a sure sign of death. Wherever in any society there are too many laws, it is a sure sign that that society will soon die. If you study the characteristics of India, you will find that no nation possesses so many laws as the Hindus, and national death is the result. But the Hindus had one peculiar idea — they never made any doctrines or dogmas in religion; and the latter has had the greatest growth. Eternal law cannot be freedom, because to say that the eternal is inside law is to limit it.

Happy Independence Day….

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