Think beyond classrooms

By Ranjan K Baruah

Education is one of the oldest subjects being imparted in this part of the country. It is one of the common subjects for the student studying in arts stream after secondary level. The subject can be taken as a major in graduation and post graduation can be done in education. We should not get confused with BA or MA in Education and B Ed or M Ed. These are different courses which are part of the same department in most of the universities.
Some of the areas of study in education include Child Psychology, Adult and Continuing Education, Comparative Education, Educational Technology, Educational Statistics and Research, Abnormal Psychology, Intellectual Measurement and Evaluation, Teacher Education, Problems and Issues of Education. And job types are professor, school teachers, private tutor, education consultant, education counsellor, vice principal, principal, coaching centres, education consultancies, education department, home tuitions, private tuitions, publishing house, research and development agencies, schools, among others.
One of the common concepts of the student is that all those who wanted to be teacher should study education. In reality there is more than teaching. One can think of new options and opportunities and more over one may innovate vistas through this subject. In this edition we are trying to publish some of the career options after completing education as subjects. In today’s world education has become an industry too.
We should be aware that India holds an important place in the global education industry. The country has more than 1.4 million schools with over 227 million students enrolled and more than 36,000 higher education institutes. India has one of the largest higher education systems in the world. India has become the second largest market for e-learning after the US.
Higher education system in India has undergone quick growth. The total amount of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) inflow into the education sector in India stood at US$ 1,383.62 million from April 2000 to December 2016, according to data released by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved opening of one Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in each of the 62 uncovered districts with an outlay of Rs 2,871 crore ($ 430.6 million), which is expected to benefit over 35,000 students in rural areas and provide direct permanent employment to 2,914 individuals.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment will set up Model Career Centres (MCC) across the country. Out of the 950 employment exchanges in India, 100 would be developed as model centres with an investment of Rs 350 crore ($52.5 million).
There are many opportunities and areas where one may get placement or get job. Some of the terms associated with jobs in this subject include curriculum developer, trainer/motivator, teacher, tutor, child care, school administrator, educational consultants, counsellors, media specialist/strategist, educational policy developer, special education teachers, managing non-governmental organisations or civil society organisation, adult literacy and language teachers.
Like MA in education we also hear about B Ed and M Ed. Well, B Ed course can to be pursued after graduation. It prepares teachers for upper primary or middle level, secondary and senior secondary classes at the school level according to the National Council of Teacher Education. We shall publish more options related to education in forthcoming edition.

(Ranjan K. Baruah is a career mentor and can be reached at [email protected] or 9864055558 for any career related queries)