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Choose right stream for success
Teaching people skills Campus Notes
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Choose right stream for success SHIPRA has just completed her XII in the non-medical stream from a small town near the national Capital. She has quite a few entrance exams lined up before her and is busy preparing for these. Her parents—and even grandparents—are worried about her career. “She is terribly confused regarding the choice of a good course, and so are we…the kid is working really hard and I pray she succeeds in getting admitted to whatever is good for her,” says her mother. Shipra’s case is a representative one. Most students find themselves on crossroads after passing out from school and/or college. “What next?” is the question that gives many a sleepless night to the students as well as their parents. The vast variety of career and higher education options available add to the confusion, with considerable peer pressure and “valuable” advice from relatives, family-friends and other acquaintances playing their own role in influencing the crucial decision. It is generally seen that instead of going in for aptitude testing of their child to decide his/her choice of discipline, the modern-day parents seek and follow the advice of “successful” acquaintances and parents of already “selected” or “settled” children in their circle. “Parents usually go by the prevailing trend in the job market, without considering the core competence of their child,” observes Dr Jyotsana, Chairperson, Department of Applied Psychology, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar. She maintains that choosing a discipline in accordance with a child’s innate aptitude would be beneficial in the long run. “A person pursuing the field of his/her core competence will work with more enthusiasm and have fewer adjustment problems and lesser job-related stress and burn-outs which are so prevalent these days,” asserts the psychologist. A scientifically prepared aptitude test brings out the real inclinations, capabilities and skill-set of an individual. It provides one a chance to get acquainted with one’s inner self and tread a path closest to one’s heart. Dr Jyotsana, who also runs an aptitude-testing and counselling centre at the university, points out that in certain cases, parents complain that they had put their child in the stream of his/her own “interest”, but it did not work out well. “Here, it should be clearly understood that at such a tender age, a child is not capable of self-assessment. Moreover, the influence of external factors like the compulsion to pick a study area from a limited set of options, line chosen by friends and outside impression of a course or institute are more likely to influence his/her decision,” she explains. Then, in the present era, the career-path adopted by the youngsters has become a status symbol for the parents, who want to realise their own unfulfilled desires through their children or just love to boast about their hefty pay packages and perks. So great is the charm of money that most parents want their wards to pursue a career which offers a high remuneration. However, in the mad quest, they not only tend to overlook their innate abilities and desires, but also become willing to compromise on good moral values and ethics, for which they have to pay a heavy price in the long run. Parents usually take no notice of the basic principle of psychology, which underlines the concept of individual differences. They need to understand that like all individuals, their ward has also been programmed to chart a distinct course. In the light of the given observations, a standardised and scientific aptitude-testing procedure becomes all the more significant. Apart from helping the students know themselves better, it also guides them as to what track they should take to exploit their potential to the fullest. However, due to lack of awareness, coupled with the limited availability of aptitude-testing centres, very few parents take their wards for aptitude assessment before zeroing in on a field of study. Hence, commissioning of more such centres, along with spreading of awareness about the vital significance of aptitude-testing, is the need of the day. The students, with the help of aptitude-testing, should try to have a realistic judgment of their capabilities and venture into a field best suited to these. On their part, the parents should also understand that their child has got a unique identity, psyche and his/her own set of capabilities and limitations. So, instead of having unrealistic expectations from their wards and pressurising them to fall in line, they should try to know their children’s bent of mind and play a proactive role in realising their dreams. |
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Teaching people skills IN the cutthroat world of competition, hard skills are not enough. A person has to be equipped with soft skills, too. Hard skills refer to the technical aspect of any course while the soft skills are the people’s skills. They are the interpersonal skills which concentrate on a person’s Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ). While hard skills occupy the realm of knowledge and are easy to quantify, soft skills are the personality descriptors and include abilities like creativity, teamwork, diplomacy, analytical thinking, problem solving, etc. Every learning programme these days stresses on the soft skills development, which now forms an integral part of the training industry. Soft skills are a cluster of psychological personality traits, which influence how we interact with one another. The most important aspect which employers look for these days while hiring is effective communication. Qualities like optimism, a great sense of humour and sociability reinforce the communication process. Today, soft skills training has become an integral part of education and students learn the importance of listening, critical thinking, dressing sense, how to deal with a major faux pas, the role of polite conversation among other things. In the service-oriented industry, an amalgamation of hard and soft skills is needed. With the world becoming a global village, we have to communicate across transnational cultures and to a global audience. Therefore, flexible attitude and the ability to adapt to all situations become necessary at the workplace. This is where the people’s skills come handy. Soft skills training begins at the school level itself. Arshpreet Singh, a Class X student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector-16, Chandigarh, who recently attended a soft skills training programme, said the training module stressed on personal hygiene and channelisation of energy in productive work. Along with self-discipline, he also learnt teamwork, grooming and improved his communication skills. Harneet Chawla, a soft skills trainer with Purple Leap, points out that soft skills training brings out the best in a person. She describes soft skills as social skills that make personal communication more effective. There is stress on increasing the self-esteem of students. She says, “Students are encouraged to make their own decisions which are not judged on logistics or binary calculations of right and wrong. Special psychometric tests and aptitude tests are conducted so that the learner knows himself as an individual. He should be strong enough not to buckle under peer pressure or follow the herd mentality.” Listening as an integral part of effective communication is an essential aspect of this training. Soft skill training programmes also lay stresss on personal grooming. Avtar Singh Chauhan, a trainer of soft skills, says good and effective communication is the core of soft skills. Great verbal and written skills are required for communication and while training students, he stresses on the correct use of grammar, telephone and email etiquettes, etc. During any recruitment process there is rapid firing of questions to all the candidates and very few will have the courage to ask the interviewer to slow down. This shows a positive attitude and ability to cope with pressure. The importance of these abilities is highlighted during the soft skills training.
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Campus Notes A two-member delegation comprising Dr Jean Kallerhoff, Associate Professor in the research team (Eco-texicology and Environmental Genotoxicology) of Eco Lab along with Dr Vivek Dham of the Science and Technology Services of French Embassy visited the university campus recently and held discussions with the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Manjit Singh Kang, regarding the possibility of academic exchange programme. Dr Jean said there was a growing interest in sending and receiving students between PAU and France. Dr Kang told the delegation that PAU had a one-year French certificate programme and the university was also planning to introduce a diploma course in French.
New courses introduced
Punjab Agricultural University has introduced five-year integrated MSc (Hons) programmes in Microbiology, Biochemistry, Botany and Zoology disciplines from the academic year 2010-2011 in the College of Basic Sciences and Humanities. The admission to these programmes will be made from amongst 10 plus 2 pass-outs from the medical and non-medical streams with 50 per cent marks. According to Dr R. S. Sidhu, Dean, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, students under this programme could also opt for the B.Sc degree after successful completion of the three-year studies. Dr Sidhu said demand for such courses was very high and the students who passed MSc (Hons) in these disciplines found attractive opportunities of employment as professionals in research institutes and pharmaceutical companies. Besides, the university has also started programmes for matriculates, namely B.Sc (Hons) six-year programme for boys in the college of agriculture and six years B.Sc (Home Science) course for girls in the College of Home Science. These programmes have been launched in order to attract more rural area students. Meanwhile, the university has revised the tuition fee for Master's in Journalism and Mass Communication to Rs 15,000 per semester and for the Postgraduate Diploma in Agricultural Journalism and Mass Communication (PGDAJMC) to Rs 11,000 per semester.
Heritage tree park
Punjab Agricultural University has set up a heritage tree park on the campus which has been named 'Dr Swaminathan Heritage Tree Park', where traditional plants of Punjab are being grown. Dr Swaminathan, being a member of Rajya Sabha, has provided a sum of Rs 20 lakh out of the MPLAD funds. The heritage tree park is being set up outside the Museum of Social History of Punjab which was set up by Dr M. S. Randhawa. There is a plan to plant more than 50 types of traditional trees representing the heritage of Punjab.
Bilateral workshop
The Indo-US Science and Technology Forum has sanctioned a sum of $64,254 for organising a bilateral workshop on "Indo-US Precision Agricultural Technologies and Techniques" on the PAU campus. As many as 12 US scientists will participate in this workshop. Besides, the experts from various agricultural universities in India and the ICAR will participate in this workshop. PAU has already got a project on this subject which would be conducted in collaboration with Colorado State University of USA, said Dr Kang. —
Contributed by K. S. Chawla
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Aptitude testing is important for making the right choice, says Sunit Dhawan