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| Sunday, 13 June 2004 |
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Now that A/Ls are over....
But your Advanced Level examination results often give you food for thought. For it is here you come across the first fork on the path of life. For the lucky 12 per cent that get university placements, the path would have already been chosen. But for the larger majority who are left behind, it is decision time. What do you do now? Prepare yourself for a life of tediousness and settle for whatever job that comes your way, or opt for higher studies and build yourself a career? And if you choose the latter, what sort of career should you opt for? And more importantly how do you go about deciding on a career? How about some Career Guidance. But then what exactly is career guidance? Put succinctly, it is a process of nurturing raw talent and bringing it to fruition in a productive manner. In a more elaborate sense it is a form of counselling that help school leavers identify their skills and proclivity, and opt for a career based not on expediency, but suitability and preference. It is guiding a person in the right direction, providing him/her the necessary information about training and employment facilities and helping him/her decide on the right career - be it in the field of information technology, accountancy, marketing or just about anything. The importance of receiving proper guidance has been stressed often enough, both by disheartened vocational trainers and disgruntled employers. According to the former, school leavers often decided on following higher educational or vocational training courses, without any idea of whether the course they choose is what they actually want to do. Often, half way through the programme dissatisfaction creeps in, attendance falls and before long the students are looking for something else to do. "This is one of the main reason why there are so many drop outs in any given training programme," says a lecturer at a higher education institute. His words are echoed by his many counterparts in various fields of training, who point out that school leavers often choose career training programme for the wrong reason. "Hardly do you find a student saying I'm following this programme because this is where my skill lies, or this is what I am suitable for," says a vocational training instructor. Reasons why school leavers select the training programme they do varies from peer pressure (all my friends are following this course, so must I) to popularity (computers are the in thing, so I must learn IT), parental pressure (as dad is paying the bill, he decided what course junior should follow) and attraction (it sounded like fun at that time, but now I realise I am not cut out for it). That the reasons are all wrong is worth repeating. They are all wrong. For, deciding what you really want to be shouldn't be made on a whim, fancy or parental autocracy. The decision should be made thoughtfully, conscientiously and pragmatically. And when the wrong decisions are coupled with a less than adequate training at an unaccredited institute... Is there any reason to wonder why there are so many unemployed, especially when the news papers are filled with vacancy adds? Or why there are so many dissatisfied workers and equally disgruntled employers? Given these reasons, it is not hard to figure out why career guidance is so important. But is such guidance available in Sri Lanka and if so where does one go to receive it? Herein lies the rub. For although the importance of guiding young school leavers in the right career path has been recognised, not much has been done until recently convert that recognition into useful real effect. The Ministry of Education in its Policy Initiatives and Programmes identified the need for Career Guidance a few years ago and stated that special career and vocational guidance units will be established in individual and in clusters of school to educate and inform A/L and O/L students on the opportunities available for training and employment in the public and private sectors. However according to Ministry sources, the plans are still in the research stages, and will take a while to be implemented. All's not lost though. The Ministry of Vocational Training and Technical Education has a programme which strives to prepare the youth of today for job opportunities in the local and international employment markets. The programme encourages students to take up vocational careers and offers career guidance with necessary training facilities. Educational exhibitions where higher educational institutes and vocational training centres put on show the training programmes that are on offer, also help students decide on a career. More so by showcasing the options and giving the student an opportunity to talk with the relevant officials about the course, the difficulties involved, his/her suitability and also job prospects. So if you've done your A/Ls and are wondering what to do about a career, seek some guidance. Educational Exhibitions aren't a bad place to start. -Hana |
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| Produced by Lake House |
What do you want to be when you grow up? The question may sound
prosaic. In a world of constant changes, where childhood dreams are often
relegated to oblivion and expediency shapes the course of the future, what
you want to be and what you end up being are usually two different things.
