KARACHI:
Career counselling is aimed at helping individuals choose and pursue a career path and change or leave careers. It is particularly crucial for students in high school because that is when students are first beginning to explore different fields. Due to an absence of career counselling in schools, students often wrongly select their subjects or disciplines without any prior knowledge. Resultantly, they fail to perform academically, struggle with their education, and fail to find employment.
In Pakistan, many students are pressured into pursuing medical or engineering degrees by their parents, leaving them with little choice to explore other options. Although there is an abundance of both medical and engineering universities across the country, every year several candidates fail to clear entrance examinations and end up wasting their potential. Through early career counselling, students can receive guidance and assistance from not just counsellors but experts in different fields. Counsellors can help them navigate their career goals in line with their talents and interests.
The educational department must encourage and facilitate public schools to introduce career counselling for high school students and private schools must also introduce it. Career counselling will broaden students’ perspectives and encourage them to explore different fields and have alternative career options. This will ultimately help the country because it will diversify the range of skills of the labour force and pave the way for investment and innovation in newer fields.
Shakir Fazul
Hoshab
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2022.
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