Vocational Guidance in Schools

The present for us is one of special significance. This is an era of changes. New patterns emerge and new ideas are proposed. The era of independence and the attendant changes have radically altered the context in which the school pursues its aims. Change that symbolizes progress demands an urgent reorientation of the attitudes of the students towards jobs. In the process of mopping up the cobwebs of prejudice against blue-collar jobs and dissemination of occupational information, the school has to play an important role.

In the past, in the whole complex and complicated field of education, there was no aspect more neglected than vocational guidance. Thanks to the dynamism and foresight of the education authorities, the student has ample opportunities to gain sufficient occupational information to equip him to choose a job that is consistent with his aptitude and general ability. The student who leaves school without at least a vague idea of the job that he would take up is apt to fall into a taste of Flux and there is the danger that he may choose the wrong job and so desperate. Today. the school leaver would have at least a vague idea of the job he intends to take up.

Each year, there is a large number of school-leavers. It is important, therefore, that young citizens should be guided to the right career when they leave school. A youth who plunges blindly into a job for which he is not suited, or for which he has no interest, can very aptly be likened to a round peg in a square hole. No country can afford to have such a state of affairs. It is, thus, of paramount importance that every individual is properly guided in the choice of a career so that he can contribute his maximum to society.

About two-thirds of a man’s life is spent in work even in these days of automation. And, the choice of a career is certainly a delicate issue for him. Making the wrong choice can land him in a world of endless frustration! Very often, the first job that a school-leaver gets is the one he has to stay at throughout his working career. So, unless he is content with and suited to the job he has, he will never be happy. Vocational guidance is thus important as its fundamental aim is to help the individual choose a career according to his aptitudes. interests and training.

The industries are confronted with the problem of a shortage of skilled workers. This shortage of trained than-power to meet our industrialization program is a reflection of the inadequacies and shortcomings of a past education that was ill-equipped to prepare young school- leavers with the necessary knowledge and skills for employment in industries. This problem, however, is further aggravated by certain values developed from the colonial era when many were groomed for clerical positions and white-collar jobs. The traditional prejudice against blue-collar jobs is still firmly entrenched. The reluctance to train for blue-collar jobs means an inadequate number of skilled workers and technicians. Such ingrained negative attitudes towards manual jobs indeed necessitate vocational guidance in schools.