Mumbai: Learn about money, making resumes in Class X

Students learning the fundamentals of dentistry through observation

From early internship to preparing resumes, understanding money matters, handling social media of school and managing its annual fest, city schools are leaving no stone unturned to give their students an edge in a competitive field and enable them to make informed academic choices. Thanks to a curriculum as vast as this, young students are career-ready by the time they write exams for Class X and XII, instead of being clueless about the possibility until graduation.

"Internships can be a stepping stone for students towards a professional environment," says Kalpana Patange, principal of Juhu-based Jamnabai Narsee School, adding that their CO-OP (co-operative education) Programme, is a structured programme for the ISC Class XI and XII students, which aims to integrate students' academic achievements with relevant work experience. "The aim is to let our students discover their passions, and hone their skill sets."

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Juhu's Jamnabai Narsee School has a co-operative education programme

In 2022, a total of 158 students were offered internships by 31 partner firms, where they interned for a period of one month between March and April. The guidance, however, began long before the actual internship. "Students were taught how to design crisp and impactful resumes, and were provided with soft-skills training to help them ace interviews," shares Patange.

Earlier this year in May, the University Grants Commission also announced that all undergraduate students at recognised Indian universities must mandatorily take a research internship for eight to ten weeks to improve research skills and employability. Following this, more and more schools, colleges, and universities are now emphasising on it, making it mandatory that students participate in internships, career fairs, and various workshops. Efforts are also being made to reach out to successful alumni and setting up career counselling centres.

"Career guidance is not something that starts after a student graduates from school or college," says Mahim-based Bombay Scottish School's principal Sunita George. The school has a career counselling cell on its premises where they conduct multiple sessions and workshops. "Besides this, we have an initiative called ‘Brainstorm' where we invite successful professionals below the age of 30 to come and speak to our students from Class IX-XII.

Orchids The International School has a financial literacy programme as part of its curriculum

We also organise boot camps wherein students are asked to do product designs and plan advertisements all by themselves. For our annual festival, we have students leading PR, logistics, social media and sponsorships." Kurla-based Orchids The International School has a financial literacy programme as part of its curriculum. "It covers interesting topics such as income, expenses, savings, budgeting, taxes as well as understanding the difference between needs and wants," shares principal, Dr Krishna Kathuria.

Last month, Tata Institute of Social Sciences-School of Vocational Education (TISS-SVE) signed an MoU with Samagra Shiksha, Government of Maharashtra to provide employment and vocational training to 15,000 Class XII students in Maharashtra. The MoU aims to achieve the goal outlined in the National Education Policy 2020 of bringing vocational education to 50 per cent of schools by 2025.

The students are also onboard with the new curriculum. Jiya Gupta, who passed Class XII from Cathedral and John Connon School is now going to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). "I am opting for two diverse streams at UCSD - art therapy with Psychology and Neuroscience, which will enable me to work with autistic kids." Arnawv Shah, a student of Jamnabai Narsee School who interned with ICICI Bank, said, "Besides time management, I also learnt how banks use data science algorithms."