Selection of a stream  or subject once Class X is over tends to be a routine exercise for many students.  However, choosing your subject needs to be based on aptitude and a yearning to learn more in the chosen field, rather than peer group advice.  Vineet Baya, Career counselor at ProTalent, began his lecture with these words of advice to the students of Class XI at St Anthony’s, Udaipur.

Vineet Baya’s lecture to the student of St Anthony’s school was a part of the year long career counseling initiative by UdaipurTimes.  This project is being done across schools and colleges of South Rajasthan, with a perspective of sharing information on career paths with students.  The aim is to take allow students to take this opportunity to open up their perspectives, which otherwise are bottled up in routine academic exercises and pressures of performance all year long, especially in the final years at school.

Career opportunities for students lay beyond the miniscule realm of vanilla careers, said Vineet.  In his 90 minute interaction with the students, Vineet put across a vast scope of professions that students of Science, Commerce and Humanities can look at – depending on passion, interest as well as aptitude.

However, he explained that the road to any profession is marred by obstacles in the form of competitive exams, opting for the right kind of job, choosing the right kind of business, market conditions and finally, competition.

Performance across all obstacles demands preparation and determination.  The importance of Mathematics was highlighted by Vineet, when he explained that almost all competitive examinations after Class XII demand good understanding of Math upto matriculate levels.  Hence the subject has to be dealt with accordingly. For those who have not taken the opportunity of choosing Math post matriculation, they need to stay up with the subject so that competitive examinations do not take them by surprise.

He also explained that earlier, the route to Science, Commerce or Humanities (Arts) as options after matriculation, were determined by the marks obtained in Class X.  Those scoring higher usually took Science, then those with slightly lower marks chose Commerce and finally Humanities.  However, he said that aptitude and the need to take up a particular course of study after XII need to decide the stream, and not marks in Class X.  A student scoring a 9CGPA in Class X may opt for Commerce or Humanities if his or her interest lies in that subject.  Students are not aware of Commerce, Accounting or Economics till Class X hence the stream remains obscure unless the correct guidance is accorded in time.

It is only certain career options that demand Science as a stream post matriculation, hence Science becomes a compulsory option, irrespective of marks scored in Class X.  However, the current education system links streams to marks hence such a situation arises.

Vineet explained about careers like Liberal Studies, Law, Hotel Management, Commercial flying, Armed forces and sports among others to the students.  He went on to explain the approach and aptitude mapping that was needed to pick up the right fit to each individual.

Over 150 students of St Anthony’s, Goverdhan Vilas Udaipur attended the session in the presence of teachers and the Principal, William D’Souza.  William D’Souza further motivated the students to study, observe the world around, read newspapers and perform in their chosen stream to get ahead in life.