How to make children career minded
There was a period in history when the common man, the
trader, the farmer and the other service people in the community
were not learned people in today's standards. People were simply
making their living in sowing, harvesting, fishing, cattle rear¬
ing, etc.
With the onset of iniduistrial revolution, the things
changed. People switched over to manufacturing jobs and converted
raw materials into finished goods.
With markets growing, we needed people for various other
needs like clerks, accountants, managers, lawyers, etc. and these
new needs introduced men to modern education.
With more and more discoveries and inventions taking place,
we took to transporot, communications, power production, travel,
etc. which opened up fresh job markets for the people who had the
right educatin.
The electronic revolution made significant strides in the
offices, factories and homes throwing new avenues of education
and careers in various new fields including in the media.
We have since entered the computer and information age. This
is the third revolution now sweeping the world. Countries like
Singapore are turning into 'intelligent islands' making it possi¬
ble for people to have education, shopping, conferences, etc
sitting right at home. These are further opening up newer and
newer channels of opportunities for education and careers.
There was a time when primary education was sufficient and
with tht people were able to rise high. Things changed and people
needed atleast to become graduates. Now the new market economy
and global village concepts have made it necessary for people to
acquire expertise in more fields than one.
With computers having already made their entry and robitics
waiting on the wings, it is no more advisable for parents to
prepare their children for clerical or white collar positions
keeping government jobs in mind. At any rate willy nilly, the
goernment have reserved almost, most of their positions for
certain categories and in another twenty years, the entire bu¬
reaucracy is likely to be manned by reservists of one form or the
other. In such a situation, parents would do well to prepare
their children towards private careers.
Children as they grow have to be introduced to concepts of
markets, competition and to the need to shine as career persons.
Today's job demands are no more confined as they used to be.
They demand people with combination of disciplines, i.e. with
multidisciplinary exposure like Engineering-Finance-Marketing
with of course necessary exposure to computer literacy.
Parents have to be aware that one might get a job but job is
not a career. A job may be given by an employer, but it is your
and your child's responsibiility to make a carrer for him.
Parents have to increasingly resort to develop their child¬
ren in privately run career clinics so that they develop the
needed knowledge and skills even while in school. This is import¬
ant for children to face competitive examinations for admission
to higher education, the gateway to careers.
Parents have thus to become longterm planners and career
strategists, keeping in mind the market climate around. It is
also their duty to restructure their children to become career
directed even from their early years. This is where creating
other interests that we talked about earlier can become the
launching pad. With proper advance planning, parents cannot think
of their children having a brilliant career.
Keeping children busy and putting them to various training
courses during vacations nd early months of school years is
important. The training could be in any field, even it is
bakery, watch repair, garment designing or whatever. It is
simply a question of keeping them interested in positives in
their early years of life. Thus throughout the school years
parents have to be on the look out for fresh areas where training
could be imparted at the next opportune occasion.
Parents in a particular area can join together to bring in
and organise various training and skill development courses.
Even they can organise these through the aegis of the shools
concerned. In this way the children can grow gifted knowing a
variety of things and acquiring cognitive abilities.
Gifted children are not born from heaven with total blessing
from God. They are only ordinary children who have picked up
skills and crafts early in life. Making this possible lies in
the hands of parents. If parents develop G oals, O rganise the
needed facilities to be available for children and interest the
children to D o, GOD automaticaly helps the children to become
gifted. God helps those who help themselves. So parents must
provide early stimulus to children by taking personal interest in
them.
With reference to career consciousness children can be
divided into three age groups.
Uptil age5, children observe and are highly inquisitive to
learn. But between age 5 and 12, this inquisitiveness wanes
away. This happens due to children being heavily controlled and
quietened both at home and at school and due to this children
engae itheir minds in fantasying rather than learning. This is a
productive period in the lives of children which is simply wasted
and the children dwarfed due to mismanagement of the child. It
is by age 13 or 14 children start realising that they have to
make themselves equipped for some career, but many having lost
the prime time of their age, are unable to catch up. Not being
able to catch up, children lose their self confidence and once
self confidence is lost, all the foundation, construction and
building work so far done by parents evaporate in the vacuum.
Parents, beware !
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