Why career guidance is essential to building an equitable education system

This article is authored by Ayush Bansal, founder & CEO, iDreamCareer.

Education is often regarded as one of the most effective pathways to social mobility, offering young people the opportunity to build better futures regardless of their economic or social backgrounds. However, access to schooling alone does not guarantee that students can translate their education into meaningful opportunities. For many young people, particularly those from economically disadvantaged communities, the transition from secondary school to higher education remains uncertain, shaped by limited awareness, financial constraints and a lack of informed guidance.

Education

While India's education system has made considerable progress in expanding school enrolment and improving access to basic education, the journey beyond Class 12 presents a different set of challenges. Choosing a course, identifying suitable institutions, understanding entrance examinations and exploring financial assistance require information that is not equally available to every student. For those whose families have little experience navigating higher education, these decisions can become overwhelming. Consequently, capable students may abandon their aspirations or settle for options that do not reflect their interests and abilities. The numbers show how many are lost along the way: According to the Economic Survey 2024-25, only 56.2% of Indian students finish Class 12, and of those who do, fewer than a third go on to pursue any form of higher education.

This is where career guidance assumes greater significance. Traditionally perceived as an additional service available primarily in private schools and urban educational institutions, career counselling needs to become an essential component of mainstream education. This is the gap PathShila, recognised as India’s largest social impact career guidance programme, exists to close. It works inside government schools to offer informed, unbiased, structured and empathetic guidance to students who would otherwise never receive it. In Uttar Pradesh, the programme is funded by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and runs with the active support of the state government. Nationally, it draws on 550+ trained career counsellors and a multilingual platform mapping 460+ careers, 28,000+ colleges, and 1,100+ exams and scholarships. It can help students understand their strengths, identify areas of interest and explore academic and vocational pathways that align with their aspirations. More importantly, it enables them to make informed decisions rather than relying solely on family expectations, social perceptions or limited knowledge of available opportunities.

The absence of structured career guidance also highlights the inequalities embedded within the education system. Students from financially secure households often have access to parents, relatives, alumni networks and professional counsellors who can help them navigate admission processes and career choices. In contrast, students from low-income families may be the first generation in their households to consider higher education. Without adequate support, they may remain unaware of scholarship opportunities, alternative entrance examinations, vocational programmes and institutions offering affordable courses.

Addressing this disparity requires moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to education. Every student has different abilities, interests, circumstances and aspirations. Career counselling must therefore be personalised, accessible and sensitive to the social and economic realities of individual learners. Aptitude assessments, career awareness sessions and one-to-one interactions can help students recognise possibilities they might otherwise overlook. This is the model PathShila follows: Counsellors sit with students one-on-one, in their own language, and help them build an actual plan rather than handing them a leaflet. Guidance should also extend to parents, who often play a decisive role in educational decisions but may themselves lack information about emerging career options.

Financial barriers remain another major obstacle to higher education. Even when students identify suitable courses and institutions, tuition fees, accommodation costs, examination expenses and relocation can make further education difficult to pursue. Scholarships, financial aid and government-supported educational programmes can help bridge this gap, provided students know how to access them. Schools can play a more active role by ensuring that information about such opportunities reaches students well before admission deadlines. Connecting career counselling with financial guidance can make the difference between an aspiration and an achievable plan.

The conversation around educational reform must also give greater attention to vocational education and skill-based learning. Higher education is not limited to conventional undergraduate degrees or a narrow selection of professional courses. Technical training, apprenticeships, industry-linked programmes and specialised certifications can offer meaningful alternatives, particularly for students who need affordable and employment-oriented pathways. Recognising these options can help challenge the perception that certain educational routes are inherently more valuable than others.

Gender inclusion is equally important in this context. Girls from rural and economically disadvantaged households may encounter additional restrictions related to mobility, financial dependence, family responsibilities and social expectations. Career guidance can help them explore opportunities beyond the immediate limitations of their circumstances, while engaging families in conversations about education, independence and long-term aspirations. Consider Parmeet Kaur, a government school student in Uttar Pradesh who lost her father four months before her board exams. She scored 66% and missed the JEE Mains cut-off, and her family was suddenly short of an income. Her PathShila counsellor ran a psychometric and aptitude assessment, opened up alternative routes such as CUET, UPJEECUP and HCL TechBee, introduced her to Navgurukul, and spoke directly with her mother to build the family’s confidence in the decision. Parmeet is now pursuing a Bachelor of Computer Applications. Creating supportive environments is essential to ensuring that gender does not determine the extent of a student's educational choices.

There is also a need to rethink how the success of education reforms is measured. Enrolment figures, attendance rates and examination results remain important indicators, but they do not capture the complete educational journey. Whether students progress to higher education, vocational training or employment-oriented programmes deserves equal attention.

Independent assessments, longitudinal studies and evidence-based interventions can help policymakers understand which initiatives are producing meaningful outcomes and where additional support is required. An independent third-party study of PathShila across five Uttar Pradesh districts, comparing participating schools with demographically similar schools that did not receive the programme, found that 77.18% of Class 12 students went on to higher education or vocational training, against a target of 70%. In Ghaziabad, Meerut and Kanpur, where the programme targeted the most disadvantaged schools, those in remote locations with overwhelmingly female enrolment, outcomes improved by 17.76% points year-on-year.

Ultimately, an equitable education system must do more than bring students into classrooms; it must equip them to make informed choices about what comes next. Career guidance is not merely about selecting a profession or securing admission to a college. It is about expanding horizons, building confidence and ensuring that a student's future is not restricted by their family's financial circumstances or lack of access to information. As PathShila’s results show, when young people are given the right guidance and practical support, education becomes more than a qualification. It becomes a genuine opportunity to shape their own futures.

(The views expressed are personal)

This article is authored by Ayush Bansal, founder & CEO, iDreamCareer.