Education and Career Counselling
CAUSE works in the area Career Counselling throughout Kashmir
and we have adopted some landlocked villages of Kishtwar
Choosing a career in Kashmir
The Traditional Habit of Following Others
The J&K state educational problems are unique because of its minimal economic development, political instability, and adverse geographical conditions. However, apart from these extraneous causes, the problems faced by higher education is because of the distraught educational set up backed by an ill-devised educational policy. The Indian education system follows almost the same pattern of teaching and education policy which was introduced by the British 1835 in India for recruiting class 4th employees. The British had then introduced that type of education policy in India where they could only produce class 4th employees, not intellectuals! In 1835, Thomas Macaulay articulated the goals of British colonial imperialism most succinctly: "We must do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, words, and intellect." As the architect of Colonial Britain's Educational Policy in India,
Kashmir from being historically a seat of learning is now among the least literate states in India, with one of the least economic spending by the state on education.
As Kashmiri society is a conservative society where most of the parents think of their children as assets. The parents compromise on their comforts of life while trying to give the best education and life to their children. That is why they always interfere in the choosing careers of their children and start dictating and forcing them to follow.
The vision of the maximum parents develops through the impact of other people of their locality (e.g. they see someone becoming / engineers/doctor or any other profession and they want the same for their child). These parents tend to ignore what their child wants to do in life.
Choosing a career involves 4 main stages:
§ Self-Awareness
§ Opportunity Awareness
§ Decision Making
§ Taking Action
Self-Awareness
The first stage in making a career choice is Self Awareness. This involves evaluating your own SKILLS, VALUES, INTERESTS, and PERSONALITY. This is important both in choosing the right career and also for success in applications and interviews.
Opportunity Awareness
Once you have done some preliminary self-analysis, the next stage is to gather information on the opportunities available. Which of the courses and careers are available in the country or outside the country. The student should be aware of all the opportunities available around him and how to avail these opportunities.
Making Decisions
The next important stage is making decisions. Friends, family, career counsellor and tutors can all play an important part. It is this stage were the student and parents have to decide what career the student should choose keeping in view the above information. The decision making part should involve more of the student's view.
Taking Action
This stage involves action or implementation. In this stage, students should set the timeline, for their ultimate goal. Meanwhile, students can also make short-term goals with a timeline as well. So that they can check, whether they are following the right track or not.
Key problems in career selection:
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Lack of counselling and guidance.
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Lack of awareness about opportunities available.
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Lack of libraries and book reading culture.
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For science graduates lack of fully developed laboratories.
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Lack of qualified dedicated teachers.
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Lack of quality research institutes.
Some possible solutions:
1. Organizing career counselling camps
2. Intervention at non-governmental level.
3. Providing economic incentive to poor and meritorious students.
4. Providing library facilities to students at various locations.
5. Identifying talented students and grooming them continuously.
6. Providing research guidance to students.