The Career Guidance Seminar and Education fair organized by the Holy Cross College Old Boys' Union Colombo branch is gathering momentum, going by the enquiries received and the interests shown by the sponsoring organizations. By the looks of it, Friday October 21st is going to be a red letter day for Kalutara when the first Career Fair gets going.
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| Mr. Aruna Fernando -of Holy Cross College Kalutara Old Boys Union -Colombo Branch, the Project Chairman of the career guidance seminar and education fair is receiving the knowledge partnership from Mr. Bradley Emerson - Regional Director for CIMA Middle East, South Asia & North Africa . |
At a time when there is a plethora of information on new avenues for study and career path development, both here and abroad, the situation of the parents become extremely challenging. After all, still, in this country it is the parents who fund the education even up to undergraduate / post graduate levels. While it is very expensive, it is all the more important that they make the right choice because one cannot afford to make a mistake.
The parents will always have a dream for their children, and the students will have their own aspirations either having fully understood their abilities or influenced by their peers.
Matching their aspirations with their abilities is critical because one has to be happy with their career to develop a passion for it.
Without passion for the job, you will end up as a square peg in a round hole.
One solid way the parents can help and facilitate the selection of a course of study and choosing a career path is for the parents to get well updated on the vast new areas that are available beyond the traditional lines. When parents are fully updated on what is available, they can re assess their original expectations and be much more assured that they are fair by the children when choosing a career.
The biggest advantage to the student is that the parental advice and involvement will come with facts and good understanding of both the student's abilities and the best path available for career development.
On the other hand, better information on the market changes and the employer expectations if shared with the teachers can make teachers real mentors and coaches for their students. It will be not be too surprising to know that many teachers are not up to date with the latest changes that occur in the job market here and abroad and as a result the teacher is not even consulted in career planning. However an updated teacher can be a tremendous asset to a student and his parents if he can direct the student to the most suitable career path.
Teachers have a way of quickly picking up a students abilities, talents, strengths, & weaknesses and are a fund of information to the parents.
\If so, the question is, are we making best use of the teachers in career planning of the students? If we take situations in the past, we find that the teacher played no role in the ultimate selection of our careers mainly because, either they could not influence our thinking or we did not believe the teacher could have contributed towards the decision.
The information gap is clearly seen. What if the teachers are fully updated and are geared to advise the students and parents on the best path for the child's future? How productive will it be if a tripartite (Student, Parent & the teacher) discussion / consultation takes place to facilitate a students future path? The benefits are enormous.
"CROSSROADS 2011" promises to make a beginning in Kalutara towards this objective and with the participation of so many educational Institutes, the programme ought to be of immense benefit. It is to the credit of the Holy Cross College Old Boys' Union Colombo Branch and the Rector of Holy Cross College to have so clearly identified the information / relationship gaps and come up with a comprehensive programme to benefit the people in and around Kalutara. It is all the more encouraging to note that this is going to be an annual event in Kalutara which assures the inflow of latest trends and opportunities which are usually available only to the students, parents and teachers in Colombo.
The sponsors have to be commended for their generosity to make this event a reality and their efforts will no doubt enhance the quality of information and decision making in a very crucial area for the younger generation.
Knowledge partners who participating in this event are the CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) , SLIM ( Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing ), Edexel , BCS (British Computer Society), City and Guilds, Academic of Management, Mercury Institute of Management, Institute of Bankers and JMC.
Several leading Companies such as Elephant House, Glaxo Seylan Bank and Aitken Spence will be participating with the intention of disseminating information about their process of recruitment, what they look for when recruiting persons and how the recruits can look forward to their career development. This will certainly help the students to gear themselves for the future.
The Media and Print sponsors for this event are Daily Mirror and The Sunday Times.
See you at the "CROSSROADS 2011" Career Fair from 9 am to 5 pm on Friday 21st October 2011. |
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