Career counselling will soon begin as early as Class 9 in all cluster-level schools, according to new guidelines from the education ministry's department of school education and literacy.

The education ministry is expanding the career guidance scheme for students in secondary and higher secondary cluster schools, under which career counsellors will advise students on future options once every 15 days. The scheme will cover schools in 7,116 existing blocks across the country.

Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the ministry's largest education scheme, includes provisions for a qualified counsellor as well as financial support of Rs 5 lakh per year. 

Students will be given aptitude tests and an interest inventory as part of the scheme in order to identify appropriate career paths. Through TAMANNA, a tool developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for career assessment, the Academic Resource Person for career counselling can identify areas of interest and skill for each student.

According to ministry guidelines, the ARC can also organise career melas by establishing relationships with industry or employers in the area to explore suitable placements for school graduates. For students in Classes 9 to 12, the ARC can also arrange group counselling.

The scheme guidelines recommend website or app-based tools to enable students’ career exploration through real-time content management. The app or website will enable students to create profiles with career aspirations related to stream, higher education or jobs.

As per the government data, the scheme will benefit 2.9 crore students with a financial implication of Rs 211 crore annually for all states and union territories. Apart from the students, the scheme also has made provisions for capacity building and training programmes for career counsellors.