Top Indian Schools embrace Univariety for Career Counselling in times of COVID

Hyderabad: Univariety, India’s largest career guidance and alumni management platform, today announced its unprecedented growth in association with Top Indian Schools for Career Guidance Programs during the pandemic. Backed by InfoEdge, Univariety has brought a revolution to the mainstream education for students during this challenging time of the year. The blended guidance platform for K-12 students has seen a sharp increase in the number of schools taking up their Career Guidance Program this year.

Over the past 8 months, Indian schools have struggled with many firsts including how to educate students online and keep them meaningfully occupied from home. Zoom classes, a term we had not even heard of until March 2020 have become a normal part of schooling. But that is not all. Schools across Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities of India, following different Boards of education, have actively adopted other fully online or blended programs that are adding value to students. One area that has seen a steep rise in popularity is Career Guidance.

Ms. Harshita Sarkar, Counsellor at SSRVM School, Mumbai says, “Univariety’s Career Guidance Program is the right move in the right direction at this time. Students have received comprehensive advice and valuable lessons in terms of their careers. They have been able to acquire the right understanding of the education system and the current market scenario. It has also helped children reflect on their abilities and ambitions.”

Ms. Mohita Mehta, Counsellor at Ahlcon Intl School echoes her sentiments saying “While we have been partnered with them for the past 3 years, during COVID Univariety has been all the more proactive by not just helping the students directly through webinars, but has also arranged sessions for teachers, so that they can be better guides to students in making their career choices.”

Univariety’s Career Guidance program has seen the biggest uptake during pandemic even though one would think it is hard enough for students to cope with online classes while teachers face challenges to complete the syllabus.

Nishi Misra, Principal of the prestigious Scindia Kanya Vidyalay in Gwalior, feels that school education can no longer be a standalone delivery of lesson plans. She says, “Schools must look seriously at their responsibility towards creating employable and aspirational citizens. We cannot leave for students to find their locations by trial or error. It would be a sheer waste of time and resources.” Ms. Misra’s school has been offering Univariety’s Program to its students for over 2 years now.

Univariety is one of the few Ed-tech companies that has managed to stay relevant in a B2B model. Univariety’s success with B2B is understandable given that their platform is tailor-made for schools and involves all stakeholders, including the school itself as well as students, parents, alumni and universities. It is a comprehensive offering that operates on a 4 pillar principle: Psychometric Assessments & Research Tools, Personalised Counselling, Alumni Guidance and University Guidance.

The Assam Valley School, one of India’s leading residential schools, opted to implement the entire Univariety solution including getting their teachers certified as Global Career Counsellors. The Global Career Counsellor Certification, India’s most popular Career Counsellor Certification, is offered by Univariety in collaboration with UCLA Extension. So while schools implement the Career Guidance Program, through this certification they also train teachers to become certified Career Counsellors. “At Assam Valley School, we take pride in our teachers’ ability to counsel our students as more than 30 teachers are GCC-UCLA certified counsellors,” says Dr. Vidhukesh Vimal, Headmaster of the school.

Sri Sri Academy Kolkata’s plan to set up their own guidance cell led to 8 senior teachers training to become counsellors. Ms. Suvina Shunglu, Founding Principal & Joint Secretary of the school says, “Great enthusiasm to guide young students along with our engagement with Univariety has made us perceive career counselling in a new light. The concept of counselling as a total package, offering a plethora of services like the parent and student counselling, a wide array of workshops, webinars and career-related tests for the students, and training for teachers to become certified career counsellors has been introduced to us by Univariety.”

COVID-19 has brought about a revolution in mainstream education. With blended programs gaining prominence, it is not surprising that schools are embracing platforms like Univariety to redefine student success outcomes. So while many leading schools in the country have in-house Career Counsellors, Trilok Singh Bist, Principal of Delhi Public School Ghaziabad, Vasundhara sums it up: “While we have trained counsellors and teachers to guide students, we require a partner like Univariety to keep them up to speed with current career trends and make guidance accessible through technology.”