How many of you have heard of a counselling session for students who are about to take first of the most critical decisions during teenage? The decision we are referring to is selection of stream after graduating from high school.The choice appears easy in most of the cases- the industrialized world where market forces, technology and consumerism dictate the society, science has by far remained the most preferred choice. Doctors, engineers, computer programmers, all come from this background. But let’s look beyond the usual.
Most students who confront this question of selecting a stream after high school are approx. 16 or 17 years old. Even the law recognizes them as minors, better said juveniles.At this age, the mind is still developing to fully accustom to what the real world is all about. Barring a few exceptional cases, most of the students are confused, or say are inclined towards what they see as the ‘trend’. And the trend has always been biased towards the science stream.
Parents, more often than not, desire their child to opt for science. In some cases, this desire turns into pressure, intimidation and even harassment of the child. The mind and choice are then shaped not by inner approval of a child but by external forces.The outcome is nothing but compromise, and a brutal suppression of what she could have achieved, sans any external pressure for selection of stream. Let’s make a point here. Why not cite a few Bharat Ratna awardees who had nothing to do with science. C. Rajagopalachari was a lawyer and historian, B R Ambedkar was a law minister in independent India, Satyajit Ray a filmmaker, M S Subbulakshmi a classical vocalist and Lata Mangeshkar a playback singer.
Imagine all the aforementioned personalities pressured into pursuing science and then intimidated by their families and friends to build career in medicine or engineering. We bet not a single awardee would have made it to the coveted Bharat Ratna recipient list.
The argument is simple. Every child has a unique personality and inclination towards a certain stream. It can be arts, commerce or even sports. Those around the child at this crucial crossroads in life ought to serve as a facilitator and guide, not an intimidator. The best we can do is to arrange counselling sessions for children when they are necessitated to make choice for a stream after high school.The irony, however, is that such counselling services are rare and only available in metro cities to a handful of children.
Schools, undeniably, are to play a part. Counsellors are to be hired to comprehensively conduct one-on-one sessions with high school graduates and assist them in identifying the best-suited stream for them. Parents must also be counselled on knowledge and scope in other fields and to back the child in her/his choice. Remember, a child who is allowed to spread her/his wings without any suppression and intimidation is the one who can one day win the highest honor of Bharat Ratna. The choice is yours- a frustrated engineer or a content historian.
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