National Child Development Council (NCDC) demands career guidance, life skill training mandatory in school syllabus

J&K: The National Child Development Council (NCDC) has demanded that the career guidance & life skill training should be made mandatory in school syllabus at primary and upper primary level.

In a statement, the council said that, “It is high time that Schools stop laying undue emphasis on academic knowledge, as there is a need to impart effective career guidance to equip children to become more confident and clear about their future goals.”

The statement reads: “As a part of career guidance, it is quintessential to make children aware of the new career option and the skill sets required for those options. The need to give importance to carreer guidance has been thought because in a post-pandemic world, students need urgent support and direction to make the transition from school to university and beyond.”

“Since students spend most of their time in school, career counseling in schools is not a luxury, it is a responsibility that schools need to own up to, and the only way to prepare generations of youth for a world that is yet to take shape. There is also a misconception that career counseling is just about the college/university admission process and only students going abroad to study need it. The fact is that career counselling cannot be made certain section centric, it is re-iterated that the current times demands that career counseling and life skill training is made mandatory for all children.”

The NCDC members said that “Career guidance in the primary/upper primary school is not intended to force children to make premature choices but to avoid premature closure of future options. Early choices may be unwise in the sense that abilities, competences, and values are not fixed, and choices may be based on highly inaccurate assessments of competence.”

The BOARD MEMBERS, who were present while issuing the resolution were: Dr Sruthi Ganesh – Resolution representative, Risvan M, Baba Alexander, Sudha Menon, Bindu Saraswathibhai &
Arathi I S.

It was resolved that career guidance and life skill training should be made a mandatory part of the school syllabus in the primary/upper primary level.