The Hindu Education Plus career counselling and guidance session was a grand success drawing a large number of students and parents her on Sunday.
Resource persons from various fields addressed students about the various career choices available to them in different fields. Students also interacted with Sangeeta Kattimani, KEA nodal officer, who coordinates the common entrance test seat selection process in Kalaburagi.
She said that the State government was expected to announce the seat matrix on June 14. “But before that, you have to get your documents verified. Online option entry will be opened on June 15,” she said. All seats are allotted in a single day to all eligible candidates through a computerised process. Option entry system is transparent and easy to use. It is an ideal model for the whole country, she said. Students could change their choices many times, but each time they should save them and submit the final choice list to the KEA. They should visit the KEA website every day to look for alerts and instructions.
She asked students to choose colleges and courses based on their choices. That is because you cannot get a seat in a college that you have not chosen. Also, the higher your rank, the higher is your possibility of getting the seat of your choice. She said that students had to place their priorities according to their own personal choices and not on whether their best friend is choosing a particular college or course. There are 218 engineering colleges and 44 medical colleges in the State. “You’ve to choose what you want,” she said.
A student, who drops out of a course, will not get to study the same course in the later years. But he can get seats in other streams. If a candidate’s parents’ income is less than Rs. 6 lakh per year, then his tuition fees shall be waived, she said. But documents have to be produced to support the claims over income, caste, or other categories.
Rajesh Kamtikar, Assistant Professor from the Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences, gave details of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test. He spoke of the format of the test and how it would help students get seats at the national-level. This year, students from the State should not worry as CET is valid. By next year, the format may change, he said. There is still some confusion about it, but it will be hopefully cleared soon, he said.
Prakash Nikam, Superintendent of Police, inaugurated the event.
He related his story of how he went from a small boy in a village to being a member of the elite Indian Police Service. “I studied till high school in my village in Nasik district in Maharashtra to join a pre-university college in a district head quarters town and then, went to Pune to study engineering. I joined Infosys and spent two years in America. But then, I quit and came back to take up advanced farming. Then, I prepared for the civil services and joined the IPS,” he said.
He asked students to know well about emerging career opportunities and new trends in the job market. “You have to choose well, based on your taste and ability to learn a new subject,” he said. He advised parents not to force their choices on their children. “Don’t get into the mad race for medicine or engineering seats,” he said.
Khaja Mohteshamuddin, career counsellor, spoke in detail about the various opportunities in higher education in the streams of arts, commerce and science. According to a human resource management survey, there are 14,000 different types of careers. “Follow your heart and study what you like. You should choose a subject that you will never be tired of studying,” he said. He also asked students not to choose a career based on predictions about which field would have the most jobs in future. “Do what you like and do it well, you will succeed,” he said.
M.S. Lokesh, Dean of the College of Horticulture, announced that a new college of horticulture engineering and food processing would be set up in Haveri this year.
Vivek Patil of the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University introduced all courses related to farm sciences. Durgesh Shastry spoke of a career in engineering.
A question and answer session was organised. The Zilla Rang Mandir that has around 700 seats was full well before the event started. Students began pouring in and 250 additional chairs had to be provided in the aisle and the gallery outside the hall to accommodate them. Despite this, around 80 students had to sit on the stage to listen to the speakers.
