IT is extremely unfortunate that many students in the country bow down to their parents’ wishes while choosing their field of study only to prove their obedience. As a result, they demonstrate a lack of interest in their studies which often lead to poor academic performance and sometimes compel the students to take their own lives.

My cousin is a software engineer, but he prefers to teach mathematics as a school teacher instead of working in his own field because of his lack of interest in engineering. He chose to study engineering only to fulfil his parents’ desire for him to be an engineer.

Regrettably, he is not the only one who did so. Every year, dozens of students waste precious seats and shatter the dreams of deserving and interested students by going against their own interest.

This is the very reason we do not have many skilful engineers in Pakistan who love to invent things. Most of the parents have high regard for medicine and engineering fields, and, therefore, they put pressure on their children to opt for one without considering their children’s interest.

Not only students, but the parents too need serious career counselling at school, college and university levels. Lack of awareness about other fields and their bright career prospects is to be blamed for the conundrum. In the absence of career counselling institutions in the country, the responsibility rests with schools and colleges to guide their students about new professions keeping in mind the specific interest of each child. But, sadly, only some schools and colleges provide this facility.

Therefore, after matriculation or intermediate, many students do not even know about the subjects they can study other than a few popular ones.

It is time parents trusted their children’s abilities and gave them the liberty to choose their career according to their choice so that they may excel. The government should also play its part by ensuring that every college must have career counsellors who can guide the students in the right direction.

Hamza Rehman
Mandi Bahauddin

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2020