Noida: ‘Career melas’ at govt high schools help young students become job ready

Books For All (BFA), a Noida-based NGO are counselling students at these fairs, held annually at various government high schools in Noida’s urban villages, and guiding them on vocational courses that will land students a good salaried career

Until a year ago, 22-year-old Tanu Singh, the only person in her family to complete high school, was surviving on what little her parents made from working daily wage jobs in Noida. Today, she is the star achiever of her family, and is working as a nursing staff at a private hospital in Noida, for a monthly salary of ₹16,000, and is supporting her family financially.

The ‘career melas’ are being organised in schools by Books For All (BFA), a Noida-based BGO, which also counsels students on vocational courses that will help them land jobs in a short time (HT Photo)

Singh, who hails from Gorakhpur and lives in the temporary settlement adjacent to Sector 16, Noida, completed a course on OT (operation theatre) technician from a private institute and later completed a short term internship from a Greater Noida-based hospital.

She completed her Class 12 from Bhawani Shankar Inter College in Sector 46 and attributes her success to Books For All (BFA), a Noida-based NGO that counselled her at one of the “Career Melas” or career counselling fairs it holds annually at various government high schools in Noida’s urban villages. It was they who supported her in pursuing a vocational course.

“When I was young, I wanted to be a doctor. But soon, I realised that it requires several years of studies and funds, and I dropped the idea. In October 2022, BFA came to my school and I learnt about the various kinds of paramedical jobs and that peaked my interest. With the help of guidance of counsellors, I opted to pursue the OT technician course. I am grateful to BFA for mentoring me, for the financial support it has provided me to pursue my paramedical course and helped me become a confident, earning citizen,” Singh says with a smile.

For 21-year-old Sagar Prasad, a resident of Sadarpur village, the career fair came as a window of opportunity in 2021 after his parents lost their livelihood to the COvid-19 pandemic induced nationwide lockdown in 2020.

“My parents used to work at a factory in Noida but after they lost their jobs, they had to resort to working at construction sites in 2021 to earn daily wages. I was in Class 12 in 2021 when the “Career Mela” was held at my school in Sector 46. I told the counsellors about my interest in graphic designing and BFA helped me financially to enrol in a renowned graphic designing institute,” said Prasad.

Following a one-year course in graphic designing, Prasad got a job as an illustrator at a magazine office and started earning a monthly salary of ₹20,000 by June 2022.

“In 2023, I switched to a product design company in Noida and for a monthly salary of ₹25,000. Now I am able to support my family and I wish to study art at Delhi College of Arts in the future,” said Prasad.

Started by a group of volunteers from Noida in 2009, BFA began counselling underprivileged students at low-income private schools and government high schools in 2021.

“A large section of Class 12 students in urban village schools and government inter colleges are ignorant about career options and employment opportunities after school. They are also unaware of the educational qualifications, entrance examinations and skill sets required for pursuing different courses. We have been filling this gap by counselling underprivileged students in choosing different career options and going about acquiring the vocational skills needed to land a good job in a short time,” said Pravin Bhasin, founder of the BFA, and a resident of Eldeco Utopia society in Sector 93A.

In the past three years, the volunteers of Books For All have counselled more than 5,000 students of 16 government and private inter colleges and high schools in Noida regarding career options and encouraged them to take up vocational courses.

“Of all the students counselled by us, we have so far helped 350 disadvantaged students by helping them secure admissions to vocational training institutes and paying their fee in full. Further, we helped 160 students, who had completed their courses, secure jobs with good monthly salary. We have also imparted soft skills and life skill training to more than 2,500 students which helped increase their awareness, build confidence and improve their personality,” said Rajendra Gupta, who spearheads the programme “Project Saksham” under the NGO, and resides in the same society as Bhasin.

Gupta noted that many students drop out after Class 12, because of lack of career guidance.

“Most students are from poor migrant families and have daily wager parents whose monthly income is about ₹10,000-15,000. They have almost no parental guidance. Many of them drop out after Class 12, either due to lack of guidance or to take up jobs in the unorganised sector. Through our “Career Melas”, we pick up bright students and offer them counselling in vocational courses such as paramedicine, cosmetology, diploma in IT, graphic design, AC and refrigeration, laptop repair and so on,” says Gupta.