By: Taniya Khangembam
Pursuing BA Honours in Sociology at Assam Downtown University,
Keishamthong Elangbam Leikai
What will you choose for your further studies? Take a deep breath and try to recognise what education is. ‘Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school’- Albert Einstein.
After class 10, children tend to take the decision with a puzzled and ambiguous mind. At the same time, peer and parents pressure also make them to end up selecting a wrong stream, thereby opening the door to worst consequences in the long term career prospects. A girl wanted to study fashion designing but has entered a nursing career. There are students too from engineering fields who wanted to set up their own companies and new start-ups. Last but not the least some of my friends wanted to become social activists but they themselves concluded their career for other streams because of their family pressure. If you are living in India and got distinction marks in your high school final exam, you are supposed to choose ‘SCIENCE STREAM’. If this is your choice, you will become the most successful individual among others. However, there are students too who doesn’t want to continue in this normal procedure. Does anybody ask them, ‘What is your choice?’ Generally, nobody.
The students who go with the flow of society or parents are suffering. They are studying that makes them unhappy but will fulfil their families’ belief and society’s intention. A student who cannot meet this stress make themselves dropouts and further disintegration of their whole lives. At this moment, the parents would say their kids are useless in studies. This makes the students more anxious in badly sense and might engage in drug addiction or vandalism or something against the society. So, who’s fault is about to concern here? The victim or the family or the society?
Dear sisters and brothers, remember that if you give in to peer pressure, parental pressure or lack the right knowledge, your choices might become the burden of your life. Hence, it is very important for any student to choose the stream carefully for better career prospects. But how would you decide if your choice is correct or not? Ask yourself the following questions:
* What are my interests?
* What is my aim in life?
* What subjects do I like the most?
* Do I need to visit a career counsellor?
Eventually dear parents, you should talk to children about their interests and choices. Some students were really depressed to the extent that led to suicide for not getting the freedom to choose the subjects of their choices. According to Psychologists, parental pressure dominates children’s career choices even today. Despite the potential in off-beat and unconventional courses, most children are forced by their parents to take up the routine subjects of engineering and medicine. Children should be allowed to explore all options and parents too must be willing to adopt a newer thinking.
