Selecting a Stream after Class 10

By: Kaustov Kashyap
Every student needs to know his/her choice of stream before opting for it in class 11. After class 10, selection of the right stream is the most crucial step as a student’s whole future will be affected by this particular decision. Generally, students pick a course of their parents’ choice or they go with the one taken by most of their friends. This happens because students are not aware of making the choice of a stream after class 10. Before selecting a stream, one needs to look at some important factors to arrive at the right choice.
Self-Awareness
This is the most important thing to be considered before deciding a stream after class 10. This involves identifying your interest, understanding your aptitude and skills. Adequate attention must be given to your interests and aptitude. For example, if you are weak in any one of the subjects – Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology, then you will have a tough time understanding that subject in class 11 and class 12 with Science stream. This is why a detailed strength-weakness analysis is necessary and important while choosing a stream after class 10.
Know the streams and find out details associated with them
Find out the available streams and then introspect yourself with respect to each field. Find out every minute detail about the stream like subjects, difficulty level, higher education courses and career prospects, etc. Also, list down details about professional courses that one may pursue after passing class 12 with a particular stream. Making a list of professional courses will help you get an idea about career prospects associated with that stream.
Take help of a counsellor
Approaching a counselor is essential when you are not sure about choosing a suitable path after class 10. It is advisable for the students to attend career guidance seminars and educational fairs where the experts can assist in discovering the student’s potential and aptitude and accordingly suggest the right stream. For more clarification, a student can personally visit a career counsellor who will conduct tests to explore out a student’s aptitude, interest and personality to consequently find out the stream that will best suit him.
Do not follow the crowd
This is the time when most of the students get influenced by their friends and end up taking streams that don’t even match their interests or skill set. This ultimately has an adverse impact on their career prospects in the future. So before making a decision, think wisely about the factors that will motivate you throughout the course. Make sure to choose a stream that matches your own interest, potential, and ability. Do not simply follow the crowd.
Discuss with your parents & teachers
Seeking guidance from reliable people in the community is another way to go. Parents and teachers are among those experienced people who can easily judge the inner strengths and interests of a student. Both serve as a major influence on a child’s decision- making actions. So, guidance from experts and experienced people always matters. However, their decision should not be solely imposed on children while choosing a stream as often it is seen that students are made to ignore their own passion and follow parent’s decision which ultimately takes student’s future nowhere. So, a healthy discussion with parents or teachers and conveying about their own real happiness should not be missed out during this phase of the academic career.
Different parameters must be considered while selecting the right stream for your Senior Secondary Education. The foremost criterion is to select a stream that matches your strength. Choosing the right stream makes a significant improvement in one’s career path. There is no good and bad stream and a lot of opportunities are there in every field. One just needs to take the right step for building a successful career in the future.