Between February 1 and 4, the Career Guidance and Counselling department at Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School, Naxxar, organised the third edition of its careers fair for students who follow any of the three courses the school offers. But how can one justify holding a careers fair in a post-secondary state school?
The school caters for around 1,700 students who follow a one- or two-year academic courses. It provides students an opportunity to acquire the necessary qualifications for entry into University, other tertiary and vocational institutes, or the world of work.
An equally important component of the school’s holistic curriculum is counselling and career guidance.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development describes career guidance as a set of interrelated activities whose goal is that of assisting individuals to manage their educational and vocational life paths as well as to manage their careers.
The legal mandate for providing vocational and career guidance services is to be found in the amended 2006 Education Act, which states that one of the functions of the Directorate for Educational Services is to “ensure the supply and coordination of vocational and career guidance services, including the implementation of programmes aimed at achieving improved, school-workplace correlation, and assist in the transition stages, including those from school to work”.
Yet, a common experience within guidance provision in schools is that career guidance tends to be marginalised. This could be due to students’ pressing personal and behavioural problems being given priority over needs related to educational and vocational choices.
Moreover, within the school’s official time allocation there are no scheduled weekly lessons allocated for career education and guidance.
Career guidance activities at Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary take various forms, such as one-to-one guidance sessions with students and their parents, orientation visits to places of work and educational institutions, and information sessions about careers by different external speakers.
The careers fair forms part of the school’s total programme for career guidance. It has been organised on an annual basis for the past three years.
Adolescents at this stage are also struggling with the questions such as ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Who will I become?’, besides grappling with subjects and the academic curriculum.
These students therefore benefit from activities that develop their awareness of talents, abilities and values as these relate to work. They also benefit from increased awareness and information about occupations and the labour market.
School-based career guidance sometimes runs the risk of having enuous links with the labour market. In fact, one of the criticisms generally made by employers is that students tend to acquire the theoretical knowledge required for a particular career but nevertheless remain far removed from the realities of the world of work.
Having access to relevant and up-to-date information helps in the career selection process.
The fair is just one activity which exposes students to professions and careers from different work sectors. This year the focus was on careers in or related to tourism, health care, education, industry, finance, IT, aviation, community, engineering, architecture, law, journalism, and the environment.
One of the aims of the careers fair is to get students closer to the work realities of the 21st century by inviting speakers, employers and representatives from various companies and educational institutions who are directly involved in the world of work.
At the latest edition of the fair, stands were set up by a number of organisations such as the Malta Tourism Authority, Wasteserv, the Employment and Training Corporation, the Education Directorate and a number of educational institutions, including the Malta College of Arts Science and Technology, the Institute of Tourism Studies and the University.
Speakers were asked to address three important issues, namely their career path, career satisfaction and opportunities in the area.
Students could thus gather information from first-hand sources about skills and abilities demanded, general career trends, job availability, training routes, knowledge about specific careers, pay scales, recruitment practices, and opportunities for advancement.
The careers fair left a positive impact in a number of ways. It gave our students the message that they can be proactive when choosing their career path and that they themselves can take an active part searching for the information they need. The fair also attracted a number of parents to the school to listen to the talks or visit the stands.
It helped forge useful links between the worlds of education and work, which are fundamental to any career guidance programme, and it got students closer to the world of work. Moreover, the careers fair helped create better networks between the school’s guidance staff, subject teachers and administration team.
Finally the success of the careers fair could be seen by the large number of students who took part over the four days of the activity.