With largest youth population, India is poised to be one of the biggest economy in future. But it all depends on how these young guns do in their career. In the technology era, we are always open to gain information about all different opportunities. Despite all these, students need some experts to assist them in choosing right career path. Now days, we have the availability of Counsellors who advise students to study according to their interests and aspirations. The IC3 Institute is one of the institutes that empowers high schools to establish counseling departments. In an exclusive interaction, Mr. Ganesh Kohli, IC3 Conference Chair and Former High School College Counsellor speaks about the overall performance and aspirations of IC3 Institute.
Q: Why was IC3 Institute set up? How did the idea come into existence?
Mr. Ganesh: Under the IC3 Movement, we have already hosted two Annual IC3 Conferences and multiple IC3 Regional Forums in various cities and countries. Our mission is to enable access to career and college counseling for high school students around the world. The IC3 Institute will empower high schools by providing guidance and training resources, to help them establish, run, and maintain robust career and college counseling departments.
Q: Can you share insights on the state of Professional Career Counsellors available in Indian Schools?
Mr. Ganesh: In India alone, we have very few schools that have a functional career-counseling department. The schools that have an in-house counsellor are not well equipped or updated with the latest knowledge around careers and education trends. The IC3 Institute aims to tackle this situation by training over 100000 counsellors over the next 15 years. In particular, this program will be piloted this year with a one-year certificate program offered online and in collaboration with premiere Indian Universities like Ashoka University, OP Jindal Global University and Ahmedabad University among others.
Q: What is the duration and content of the course? When is it expected to start?
Mr. Ganesh: The IC3 Institute’s certificate program is designed for full-time high school counsellors and teachers. The year-long certificate program which will begin from September 2018 is structured to be delivered in four distinct one-week modules that will be delivered in-person at designated locations, supplemented with self-study, online materials, and video conference sessions. This course is available completely free for full-time high school counsellors and teachers.
Q: What are the eligibility criteria for applying for this course? What is the procedure for inviting/selecting a candidate for Career Counsellor course?
Mr. Ganesh: The main criteria to be a part of this certificate program are that the applicant must be a full-time counsellor/teacher at a high school and the school must be committed to establishing a full-time counseling/career guidance office to help students. Interested candidates may apply via the IC3 Institute website: https://www.ic3institute.com/admissions/
Q: What are the prospects for professionals opting for this course?
Mr. Ganesh: The curriculum of the “IC3 Certificate in Career College Counseling” will equip the counsellor to address the three distinct areas of “What to Study”, “Where to Study” and “How To Go About It”. This will delve further into counseling pedagogies, study area preferences, global mobility statistics, technology tools for advising and application processes for different countries. Apart from the above focal areas, the program will also help counsellors engage with their peers, education leaders and global industry experts.
Q: Please share the management structure of IC3 Institute and the role of IC3 in its governing?
Mr. Ganesh: The IC3 Institute is a volunteer organization that will have experienced trainers (faculty) who will serve as mentors to high school principals, administrators, teachers and counsellors with expertise on all aspects of career and college counseling. The training/consulting by these volunteer trainers will be executed through site visits, online sessions and access to videos and online training material. In addition, a counsellor certification program (diploma) will also be offered through partnership with leading universities.
The IC3 Institute’s board consists of Mr. Vineet Gupta, Founder, Ashoka University who is also the Chair, IC3 Institute Task Force and Dr. Shalini Advani who is the School Director, Pathways School, Noida.
Q: How will IC3 manage the fund for running the Institute?
Mr. Ganesh: The IC3 Institute costs will be managed through the sponsorships from university and industry partners.
