Will address the needs of students
for information on scholarships and career choices
India’s
first “career portal”, addressing the needs of secondary and higher secondary
students for information on scholarships and career choices, was launched with
the support of United Nations Children’s Fund here on Wednesday. The portal is
expected to help the students take “informed decisions” about their academic
and professional pursuits.
To
benefit lakhs
Minister
of State for Education Govind Singh Dotasra and UNICEF-Rajasthan chief Isabelle
Bardem inaugurated the portal, set to benefit about 23 lakh students, at Dr.
Radhakrishnan Shiksha Sankul here in the presence of school principals,
teachers and senior officials.
Mr.
Dotasra said the portal would promote employment-oriented education in the
State and provide information on 200 vocational and 237 professional careers,
455 employment avenues, 960 scholarships, 955 competitive examinations and
10,000 institutions of higher education to the students from Classes IX to XII.
Experts
in UNICEF have developed the portal after an assessment of needs, awareness and
perspective of students, teachers and system functionaries. Dr. Bardem said the
assessment had indicated that most of the boys and girls in the State were keen
to join the workforce as soon as they finished Class X or XII. Besides, the
assessment revealed a substantial progress in terms of gender equality among
the students.
“The
career portal will serve the needs in the educational stream, enabling the
students to choose their career path matching with their aspirations, interest,
inclination and aptitude,” Dr. Bardem said, adding that this would reduce
dropouts at various stages in schools and improve retention in jobs. UNICEF had
selected Rajasthan for launching the portal because of its track record in
employment-oriented education, she said.
Mr.
Dotasra also announced setting up of the Rajiv Gandhi Career Counselling Cell
for adolescents and youths on the occasion. The cell will link school and
college students with skill development programmes and internship opportunities
in the pursuit of their career choices.
Career
information
UNICEF’s
studies in Rajasthan have highlighted that two largest sources of career
information for students are teachers and family members. About 69% of students
mentioned that they were using Internet for their career-related queries, which
indicates that the adolescents will quickly learn to use the career portal.
Source: THE HINDU-7th February,2019
