Punjab News: Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said that in a significant step towards providing equal opportunities for career guidance to all students, the Punjab Government has launched a first-of-its-kind initiative to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based career guidance in its government school education system. Under the pilot phase, 25 AI-based career guidance laboratories have been inaugurated in government and Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) affiliated schools.

Minister Harjot Singh Bains launched this initiative by simultaneously inaugurating these laboratories at Government Senior Secondary School, Nangal and Government Senior Secondary School (Girls), Sri Anandpur Sahib. This program, implemented in collaboration with education-tech partner ‘Beyond Mentor’, will provide free career guidance to the students of the state.

Minister Harjot Singh Bains said that the objective of this initiative is to empower the youth of the state with the right means at the right time. He said the functionality, student results and efficiency of the 25 schools covered under the pilot project will be closely monitored. Successful implementation of this initiative will pave the way for its phased expansion across Punjab, making Punjab among the leading states in the country to include planned AI-based career guidance in its public education framework. This initiative reflects the commitment of the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to prepare its students for the needs of the 21st century economy.

He said that the facility of career guidance should not be the preserve of only the rich and keeping this in mind, we are providing structured, AI-based counseling facility in government schools to ensure that every child, irrespective of his/her socio-economic background, gets the opportunity to choose his/her future as per his/her wish.

Sharing information about the working process of AI-based laboratories, the Education Minister said that students will have to undergo an AI-based aptitude and interest assessment process on a digital platform. The system will generate a personalized career report highlighting the student’s potential academic and professional interests and then professional advisors will have a one-to-one session with the student to discuss the report, involving parents, to come up with an actionable plan.

He said that this model has been designed away from the traditional methods to provide personalized, data-based guidance as per the interests of the students right from the initial stage – class 6th.

P.S.E.B. Chairman, Dr. Amarpal Singh emphasized on the shift from exam-centric education to holistic development and said that true education is the one which opens the way for you to a golden future. These laboratories will help students move away from the age-old pattern of numbers race to identify their natural talent and channel it towards concrete career goals.

Saurav Kumar, CEO of Beyond Mentor, said that our platform connects technology with human emotions and interests. A.I. Scalable handles the assessment and counseling is done by professionals, ensuring that every child is able to express himself openly and gets the right guidance as per his interests.

of news media WhatsApp follow the group https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaBE9cCLNSa3k4cMfg25

Meanwhile, Akshita, a class 9 student of Government Senior Secondary School (Girls), Nangal, shared that she is very curious that our government school is providing such advanced facilities regarding career guidance. She further said that earlier we knew only about some general career options, but through the counseling sessions we were able to learn about many new career possibilities. She said such career guidance was generally available in private schools. Akshita’s father Vishal Sharma praised the inclusive initiative of the state government and said that it was a priceless moment for me to be a part of the counseling session with his daughter. She said the session provided a different and authentic experience by engaging her in conversations about her daughter’s future.

Sharan, a Class 6 student of Government Senior Secondary School (Girls), Anandpur Sahib, said, “This program has helped me understand my interests and personality better. I am sure that this program will help me in choosing my career with full confidence.