Career Choices: After Class XII, what?

Dr Ananya Ghosh-Dastidar is carrying out a study on Occupation Choices among High School and College Students in Urban India. She is at the Delhi University (South Campus) and this study is jointly undertaken with Dr Soumen Sikdar of Calcutta University.

Their objective is to study an important aspect of labour market trends, namely occupation choice in an era of globalisation and economic reforms in a developing country like India.They would like to focus on final year school and college students in two metro cities (Delhi and Kolkata) and try to

• characterize the nature of career choices being made by them
• analyse some of the reasons underlying these choices and
• analyse the implications of such occupation choices, especially for the education sector in the economy.

An important objective of this study is to specifically analyse the implications of students' career preferences, for the education sector and therefore for human capital formation in India. In this context the question we would like to pose is: Are the best students in schools and colleges today, willing to take up academics (teaching and research) as a profession?

I thought this would be a good thing to try to find out. What do the students at MIS think? Through this blog I would like to request Class XII students to spend maybe 10-15 minutes to answer the following questions. You can cut and paste the answers into an email which you can send directly to Professor Ghosh-Dastidar at agdastidar@gmail.com

Here it is:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Respondent,

This 4-page questionnaire is part of a study, funded by the University of Delhi, on “Analysis of Occupation Choices among High School and College Students in Urban India : A Case Study of New Delhi and Kolkata”.

As you are aware, since Economic Reforms were introduced in the 1990s decade, there have been many changes in the Indian economy, especially in the sheer range of available job opportunities. The number of alternate options open to job seekers has simply exploded over the past decade or so.

Given this dynamic scenario, we are trying to get an idea about the career preferences of youngsters like you. Your feedback will be a vital input in our understanding of occupation choice issues. The information you provide will be used solely for research purpose and kept completely confidential.

Kindly provide all the details requested, by either ticking a given option or ranking the options given in order of preference. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Please put an x in the brackets like (x) to indicate your choice.

1. Name of School

2. Name of Student (optional)

3. Gender Male ( ) Female ( )
4. Subjects / Stream Chosen in Class XII :
Science ( )

Commerce ( )

Humanities / Arts ( )

5. A number of career choices appear below. We would like to know about your preferences about these career options. Consider the given list of occupations and rank them according to your choice, on a scale of 1 to 10 in the space provided below. Give Rank 1 to your best choice, 2, to second best, and so on..

1. Executive in Private Sector (e.g., Corporate job in MNC with MBA degree)
2. Bureaucrat (Govt. sector job, eg. IAS/IPS etc., other than Defence)
3. Defense Services (Army / Navy / Airforce)
4. Teacher
5. Businessman
6. Independent Professional (Doctor / ‪ Lawyer / ‪Chartered Accountant / Architect /Stock Broker etc.)
   
7. Media and Entertainment Professional (Journalist / TV Anchor etc.)
   
8. Airlines Industry Professional (Pilot / Air Hostess etc.)
   
9. Sportsperson (Cricket / Tennis player etc.)
   
10. Fashion Industry Professional (Fashion Designer) or Creative Designer (e.g. Interior Designer)
    

6. If there’s an occupation you’d prefer which is different from the ones above, please mention the occupation and the Rank (out of 10) you’d like to give it :
Occupation :
Rank :
7. Suppose you did not have to think about earning a living. In that case, which occupation would you prefer the most ?

Same as the Occupation Ranked 1 above (

Some other Occupation (e.g., Singer, Dancer, Painter, Writer, Social Worker, Human Rights / Environmental Activist etc.) ( )


8. What do you think are the highest paid occupations among the following ? Consider the given list of occupations and rank them on a scale of 1 to 10. Give Rank 1 to the occupation you think is the highest paid, 2 to second highest and so on.

1. Executive in Private Sector (e.g., Corporate job in MNC with MBA degree)
2. Bureaucrat (Govt. sector job, eg. IAS/IPS etc., other than Defence)
3. Defense Services (Army / Navy / Airforce)
4. Teacher
5. Businessman
6. Independent Professional (Doctor / ‪ Lawyer / ‪ Chartered Accountant / Architect /Stock Broker etc.)
7. Media and Entertainment Professional (Journalist / TV Anchor etc.)
8. Airlines Industry Professional (Pilot / Air Hostess etc.)
9. Sportsperson (Cricket / Tennis player etc.)
10. Fashion Industry Professional (Fashion Designer) or Creative Designer (e.g. Interior Designer)

9. If there’s an occupation you’d prefer which is different from the ones above, please mention the occupation and how you would Rank (out of 10) income from it:
Occupation :

Rank :

Now we would like to ask you about your preferences regarding a specific profession - Teaching


10. Would you like to be a Teacher ? Yes ( ) No ( )

11. Where would you most prefer to teach? School ( ) College ( ) University ( )

12. For you Teaching is : your most preferred or first best career option ( )

a career option you would consider in case other options did not work out ( )

13. What do you think needs to be done to make Teaching a more attractive career option ? Rank the given options in order of importance.

Give Rank 1 to what you consider is the most important step, Rank 2 for second most important step that needs to be taken.

1. Teachers’ salaries should be increased
2. Teachers’ job should be made more interesting (e.g., by giving Teachers more freedom over teaching methods and / or curriculum design)

14. Is there anything else that can be done (other than the points mentioned above) to make Teaching a more attractive career option ? No ( )

Yes, (Please mention what can be done) ( ) :




We would like to know about your main sources of information (on nature of job, salary etc.) about different occupations.

15. For you which of the following are the most important sources of information about various occupations ? Rank the given options in order of importance.

Give Rank 1 to the most important source, 2 for second most important and so on.

1. Parents and Relatives
2. Friends and Senior Students
3. Media (Newspaper, Television etc.)
4. Internet

To help classify your responses, for research purposes, we’d like to know some details about you and about your family background – your responses will be kept strictly confidential.

16. Marks you had secured in

Class X board
Examination (CBSE / ICSE) :

• Less than 50% ( )
• More than 50% , but less than 75% ‪ ( )
• More than 75%, but less than 90% ()
• More than 90% ()

‪
17. Your Father’s Education :

• Has No Formal Schooling ( )
• Completed School but does not have a College Degree ( )
• Graduate (BA / BSc / Bcom / B Tech / MBBS etc.) ‪( )
• Post Graduate (MA / MSc / Mcom / MD / M. Tech / PhD‪) ( )

18. Your Mother’s Education :

‪

• Has No Formal Schooling ( )
• Completed School but does not have a College Degree ( )
• Graduate (BA / BSc / Bcom / B Tech / MBBS etc.) ‪( )
• Post Graduate (MA / MSc / Mcom / MD / M. Tech / PhD‪) ( )

19. Your Father’s Occupation :

• Employee in Private Concern /NGO (other than Teacher) ( )
• Teacher (in School / College / University) ( )
• Bureaucrat / Govt. Employee (except Defence) ( )
• Defence Personnel ( )
• Businessman ( )
• Independent Professional (Doctor/Lawyer/Chartered Accountant etc.) ( )
• Other (Please Specify) ( ) :

20. Your Mother’s Occupation :

• Employee in Private Concern /NGO (other than Teacher) ( )
• Teacher (in School / College / University) ( )
• Bureaucrat / Govt. Employee (except Defence) ( )
• Defence Personnel ( )
• Businessman ( )
• Independent Professional (Doctor/Lawyer/Chartered Accountant etc.) ( )
• Housewife ( )
  
• Other (Please Specify) ( ) :

21. Your Family Income (approx.) :

‪

• Less than Rs.10,000 per month ( )
• More than Rs.10,000, but less than Rs.20,000 per month ( )
• More than Rs.20,000, but less than Rs.50,000 per month ( )
• More than Rs.50,000, but less than Rs. 1,00,000 per month ( )
• More than Rs. 1,00,000 per month ( )

Annual Day

The Annual Day celebrations this year were a colourful affair- here are some pictures that I took- many of you probably have much better shots, so please feel free to send in some if you want, or add links in the comments....

It was a very nice idea to have the Vice Chancellor of IGNOU, Professor G Rajasekharan Pillai as the chief guest. Apart from being a distinguished chemist, he has been at the helm of academic administration for over a decade, in the University Grants Commission, at the National Accreditation Council, and as Vice Chancellor of M G University Kottayam before that.

There has been more activity on the blog in the last few days- its nice to get so much feedback and so many suggestions. I am planning a more directly interactive session between us parents and the Principal in the near future. When is a good time? During the Christmas break, or when the school is in session? Send in your suggestions please!

Security

A group of parents- distinguished academics all- who teach at a prominent South Delhi College affiliated with Delhi University- called a few days ago to raise the question of security at the School.

As all of us know, the overall security at the school is not very strict. Perhaps it needs to be. Here are their specific concerns which I have summarized. Please add your comments and let us have a proper discussion on this before I bring it up with the Principal.

1. Multiple entrances. The School has several entrances- from Sarvodaya, the Ashram entrance, the Main Gate. These need to be closed during school hours. We do not recommend placing guards at these points, as they are usually not equipped to tackle serious threats.
2. Parent IDs: Should parents or guardians be provided with ID which can be presented at the entrance?
3. Store relocations: It may be necessary to shift Matri store to a more accessible point. One suggestion is to have an additional gate beyond Matri store, as the Meera Nursery might not be functional in the next academic year, so access to the UCO bank will also not be an issue.

Please let us know how you feel about this. In this new climate, a little precaution may be wise.

Third in the Top Day Schools list

I thought that more parents would be interested in the comment of Ash on the last post, about MIS being No. 3 in the Education World Survey of the Top Day Schools of India. The entire article can be read here.

Topping the list is The Shri Ram School, Delhi "as the most respected school in the north, with an aggregate score of 1,082 across the 12 parameters of institutional evaluation. This aggregate is higher than of day schools topping the southern, eastern and western lists, making The Shri Ram School (estb. 1988) the country’s best regarded day school as well."

The rest of the listing: Delhi’s Sanskriti (ranked 2nd in the north), Mother’s International (3rd), Springdales (4th) and Vasant Valley and Sardar Patel (5th) schools. Another surprise entrant in to the Top 10 northern region ranking is the Sacred Heart Public School (6th), Modern School (7th) and DPS, Vasant Kunj, Delhi (9th).

Meeting of the Management Board

Many of you will know that the School Management Board met yesterday afternoon. As the parent's representative on the board, I was there to bring up many of the points we have discussed in person or via email.

The new Principal, Mrs Rajalakshmi, has taken over. She has been at MIS for the past 21 years, teaches Chemistry in the senior school, and has worked intimately with the School administration for a long time. I believe she is very open and receptive to your suggestions and ideas.

Some of the things discussed were

1. Buses. This is going to be a problem in the future as the DTC reduces the number of buses it provides, but private transporters are not the answer. Given the rules imposed by the Delhi Government, it is likely that the school will cater to a smaller geographical area, perhaps only those children who can walk to school.
2. Cleanliness. Mosquitos. etc. This is something that has to be done continuously. All classrooms have the mosquito repellent vaporisers. Any other suggestions? Please let me know and I will pass it on.
3. Teacher resignations. There have been 2 in the past few months. The Biotechnology teacher has left owing to the very low enrolment- there were 4 students this year and none the next year... Another teacher resigned for personal reasons.
4. Sports. This is something where your active input and suggestions are needed. Football is emphasised since it is inexpensive and inclusive.
5. 6th Pay Commission. The directive of the Government is awaited. As of now, the additional burden on the School is Rs 1.5 crore or more, and the question of how to raise funds is very high on the minds of the management. The Ashram and School are quite separate, so there is very little buffer that the school has. Fees will surely go up, probably by 50%.

The government committee is meeting now and a report is expected on the 17th, i.e. next week.

Watch this space...

The Habitat Children’s Book Forum

I found out about this activity that may be of interest to a wider group. Lets see if the School can send a group of kids across to such activities from time to time...

The Habitat Children’s Book Forum was launched in October 2003 at India Habitat Centre by well- known children’s writers Deepa Agarwal and Paro Anand, with the aim of nurturing the reading habit among children by showing them that books can be fun. Another objective was to promote the work of Indian authors and provide children with a platform to express their views about books. Response from children, parents, schools and authors and publishers has been enthusiastic and the Forum has acquired many regular members.

Over the last five years, a large number of books have been discussed and activities like meet the author, story telling, drawing storybook characters, writing stories and poems and book related quizzes conducted. Apart from the classics of Tagore, Hans Andersen, R.K. Narayan, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay and Kalki, the writings of popular writers like J.K. Rowling, Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton, the work of contemporary Indian authors Ranjit Lal, Subhadra Sen Gupta, Anupa Lal, Vinita Singh, Dilip Salwi, Paro Anand, Nilima Sinha, Devika Rangachari and Deepa Agarwal has featured in these programmes.

Whenever possible, a book counter is set up as well, in order to address the problem of non-availability of books by Indian authors in most book shops.

The Book Forum usually meets on every second Saturday of the month at India Habitat Centre and is open to all children free of charge.

Contact Deepa Agarwal at 9811109123

A new Principal!

I heard this morning that MIS has a new Principal- Ms Rajalakshmi who teaches Chemistry in the Senior school. I know this is very welcome news to all us parents, that there is a Principal.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Management Committee meets on Friday.

Children's Day

The Managing Committee meeting is scheduled for the 14th of November. I thought it a good sign that it is also Children's Day.

I would greatly appreciate it if you would put in all the points you would like to see represented at this meeting. Those that are already on my radar are:

1. Cleanliness of the school. Mosquitos and other bugs.
   
2. Sports. More of them, better coaches, more flexibility.
   
3. Buses. Whats to be done?
   
4. Teachers. Why are we losing some of the better teachers?
   
5. The edge. Is MIS losing its pride of place among Delhi schools?

Do let me know if there are others, and also if you feel that a particular aspect should be highlighted. Add this in to your comments on this post. Thanks!

Board meeting

As you all know, the School board meets around this time, the coming Annual Day being a marker of sorts...

For those of you who have been concerned on many issues, this post is just to inform that the meeting will take place in the coming week, and once it is on, there will be some information on this blog.

Despair is not an option....

In the past few days I have received a couple of letters from parents who are seriously worried about the school...

I thought I would share this with all of you, and I would also request you to be more interactive via this blog. Please add your comments! Please let others know that this is a forum for all. As I have assured all of you in individual interaction, I will take up these matters when the board meets, but even before that, I am bringing things to the notice of the school management.

A parent who has children in Classes 7 and 9 writes in to say that she is sorry "that a school of such high stature has fallen in its standards of education and values. Most of the good teachers have resigned, creating a void. Some of the old teachers employ redundant methods of teaching children, thereby making the subject uninteresting. This plight is being faced by a majority of parents. Teachers are unable to finish the course or they go about it in a perfunctory way. Thus, not even clearing the doubts and not even checking the copies carefully . Some of the veteran teachers talk to the children in a disparaging tone and language not suitable to a teacher.

When other schools are giving there students an opportunity to explore new avenues,why is MIS discontinuing subjects like Fine Arts and Bio-Chemistry? I think the MIS think tank needs to put its act together and rev up the system.They have to make it nourishing and enriching by taking the children for educational field trips in Delhi. The fact is that children do not look forward to coming to school.

Times are changing. The school does not have to harp on shortage of funds or portray an image of a poor school. The Senior school desperately needs new furniture and an uplift. That's the need of the day. It also needs a dynamic person like the Junior school Headmistress, Mrs. Sanghamitra as the Principal to discipline the school and make the school academically proficient."

The Annual Day preparations appear to be quite inadequate. Can we have some professional help?

Another parent had some other points to make:

Sports: Request for special coaching in various sports in the preschool morning hours has gone unacknowledged. .

Teacher Attitudes: Very negative in parts. Rude and not very helpful. These are in a minority, but still...

Work-week: Is a 5 day week a possibility? How do other parents feel about it?

Transparency: It would be good to have the school management tell us a bit more... what are the real problems they face?

It should be made clear to the School that parents are willing to put in more resources- time and money- to help in whatever way possible. After all, at the kind of schools we think are MIS' competitors, the annual fee is at least twice that of MIS. Often more.

I hope you will give more feedback on this post- it would help me too!

Chess... and other sports

Vikram Singh from JNU writes in to ask if other parents would like to help start a Chess Club at MIS. He has a comment on an earlier post, but here is the crucial information: His cell number is 9868614409. Please call him and set it up.

The problem of not enough sports is something that many of you have said over and again, so let me bring it up once more. Shobhit Arora has put it very nicely, so let me quote from his letter:

I would like to reaffirm the view of lack of proper sports facilities at MIS... MIS is a school of some repute, and it needs to upgrade some basic requirements in tune with the times.

Swimming, Badminton, Table Tennis, Volley Ball... these are sports that are available in most schools, let alone the well-known ones. We need to learn from China, how they have built up young sports persons and fit youngsters to lead their country in the future. Sport is a disicipline: it invigorates young minds and cannot be considered a futile activity.

Reactions

One of the things that was very heartwarming at the Accolades day celebration was the felicitation of staff who had taught at the school for many years, and who were clearly very popular with the students.

However....

Dinesh Jain wrote in to raise the issue that the School also loses staff due to a variety of reasons... One, of course, being remuneration. It would be good to have an open and frank discussion on this, so I would like to request those of you who do read the blog to make sure that this post gets some wider visibility, and more varied response-

Is the School adequately staffed, or are there teachers who need to take 7 lectures a day. Especially if this includes senior classes, it would be very stressful...As we all know, the School relies heavily on volunteers for carrying out some of the duties that teachers would perform in other schools. While this brings in a very welcome sense of parent participation, there is also a point of view that feels that this "compromises the quality of teaching, as well as continuity as volunteers may leave mid term".

I had a discussion with Mr Bhalla last week on some of the issues that have been raised so far. About the falling standards that some parents have drawn attention to, from what I could see and the statistics that are there, MIS is not doing badly... A fair proportion of students get into the IITs and the top Universities, at least compared to other Schools in the area. The number of students we have graduating each year is about 150, and if 10 get into IIT or the Law Schools, then the per-student performance is actually better than in most schools.

That said, there is reason for concern. Competition is constantly increasing, and resting on the laurels of earlier times is not going to get us anywhere... But it would be good to have some hard numbers. Can anyone help in this regard? What has the actual performance of the School been in the past few years? On an absolute scale, or even relative to itself.

I'll be happy to put up the facts here for all to see-

Accolades Day

I'm just back from the Accolades Day celebration at MIS where three teachers and 136 students were felicitated. The former, in appreciation of their teaching careers, and the students, for their performance in exams and extracurricular activities. Mr Bhalla has said he would send me some pictures of the function (which included a superb show by Class II, and a dance by older students, with an excellent invocation by Pavithra Chari) and they will be put up here. We also spoke of revamping the MIS website at some time soon...

More on sport

A number of parents continue to write in on the lack of emphasis on sports. Particularly that these activities are not compulsory.

I had occasion to speak with the Principal who told me that there are a number of coaches who come to the school from the Sports Authority of India... And that there is sporting possibility before the start of classes.

As Mr Sanjay Malhotra wrote in, "The school has an excellent campus and adequate space for all sporting activities. Students are not encouraged for sports from primary school, making them disinterested once they go to higher classes."

Having attended a school where sports were compulsory each day, and having been very mediocre at all of them, I would tend to agree with Sanjay. If at all possible, it should be necessary for each child to have a structured sports schedule. One learns many things, team spirit, routine, etc.

Sanjay goes on to say that in "our days in school, every child belonged a HOUSE and there used to be an annual and semi annual sports meet between the HOUSES. Reqular sports activities and training were provided to students. The options must be made available to all students for them to chose as they please. While all other activities like dramatics, music etc are important, so is Sports. lack of focus on this activity is alarming."

I'm not sure which school he went to, but in mine, there were 4 houses as he describes, and competition between them was both intense and vital! It would be good to see more sports at MIS, but as usual, the question is when and how. Which ones? You are welcome to use this blog as a way of sharing information too, or as a way of making formal/infomal arrangements...

Can we have some discussion on this matter - and some practical suggestions? Thanks!

Mosquitos?

Shankar Sahay, a parent of a child in the primary section of MIS writes in to say that there is a "problem of unclean toilets, collected water, which acts as breeding ground for mosquitos". This is, of course, a danger to our kids and to all of us as well.

Shankar says that the cases of dengue are sharply on the rise in MIS, especially in the primary section. This is very very worrisome, and will be taken up soon-

Can we get the MCD to take some steps in this regard? Please write in with suggestions.

PS: I'm putting in pictures just to liven up the blog. Not that these are meant to imply anything else... Also, the best way of getting all people involved is to ask them to look at this page- remember anyone can comment just by clicking on the pencil below...

Sports

Harish Chhabra brought up the matter of sports, especially in the primary section. The lack of emphasis on sport (among the youth of the country as a whole, but in urban India and in particular in the metros) is a great contributor to poor health (not to mention diabetes and obesity in children). One can go on... However, given the fact that we actually won 3 medals in Beijing, its important to talk about sports and other activities in schools. Ours.

Harish makes a number of very pertinent points.

• there are not enough sport activities and others extracurricular activites, such as dance and music, especially in the Junior school.
  
• Few children actually get a chance to participate in whatever activities.
  
• No sport activity except football is taken care of properly or given any appreciation. For example there are around four to five coaches for football but only one coach for four other sports that are throw ball, table tennis, volley ball and basket ball. Also there is only one sport teacher for badminton and athletics which have a large number of children participating... Due to this, none of these sports gets adequate attention.
• More hours can be given for sport, and perhaps there can be some new facilities.
  
• For many years now no new sport has been introduced.

Can we request the authorities to hire more sport teachers for the school? I am sure that with our inputs, we can do this, even if it means an extra contribution from us parents.

The Bus service

The first post on this blog is on the matter of buses... Seeing that our children get to and from school in a safe manner is a matter of great concern to us all, and the situation on some of the routes is far from satisfactory.

Pallavi Sen, a parent on Route MIS-11 has written in to raise this issue. " Buses are overcrowded to the extent that apart from cramming 3 students (along with their heavy school bags) on seat meant for two, there are children squatting in the aisle, getting stamped by the standing students, as well as students sitting on each others laps in the hot summers. The Bus in which my daughter travels (MIS-11) has 89 students apart from the conductor & the teacher crammed in. I understand that there are a couple of other buses with an even worse situation with 90+ students in a bus.. This is not only a torture for the students but also a serious safety hazard."

A request has been made to DTC to sanction additional buses, and has been followed up as well, but the DTC officials say they do not have any buses available, and that "there is no question of sanctioning any additional buses to the school". And as we know, the charges for transport have just been increased...

In these circumstances, it is necessary for us to find alternate solutions. Writing a letter to the Principal is easy, but let us have some suggestions also. Shall we try out non-DTC solutions? Would that be acceptable? How many routes have buses with more than 70 students in the bus? 80?

Please write in. Also, I would be most grateful if you can bring this blog to the notice of every parent you are acquainted with.... word of mouth is the fastest way to spread the information, and its important that we all connect. Thanks!

Welcome!

Hi-

I thought that this could be one of the simplest ways in which we can all participate in discussions relating to the School. We can develop this blog to become a source of information on some activities of the School, share our common concerns, voice our appreciation, and generally communicate both with the School and with each other.

Let me begin by thanking you for your support in electing me the parents representative on the School Management Committee. I understand that there is a meeting sometime in October, and will keep you updated via this blog. Many of you have written in with several suggestions- I will try, over the next weeks, to bring these up for discussion. Do feel free to make comments, send email, etc.

Best wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy
रामकृष्ण रामास्वामी