TISS SVE invites students for vocational career counselling test

NEW DELHI: The Tata Institute of Social Sciences School of Vocational Education (TISS-SVE) invites higher secondary students to interact with the Vocational Aptitude System (VAS ).

TISS -SVE and the Defence Institute of Psychological Research, DRDO launched VAS last year in July. It is a standardised psychometric test that aims to provide students with the “most suitable path within the realm of vocational education”. The skill education and counselling unit are administering VAS. So far, 91 students have participated in this test, and the unit expects an increase in registration this year. Students can register for VAS before enrolling in TISS SVE programmes or other vocational programmes.

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The test involves multiple assessments of students’ aptitude in 15 different sectors. The test is user-friendly and is expected to provide reliability and validity. The test can be administered individually or at a group level through the software-enabled system. Students will have the choice to select up to three sectors based on their interests. The test will be conducted within the chosen sectors. If they want to explore additional sectors, students can register themselves again. At the end of the test, students will receive auto-generated reports that will be self-explanatory, based on which they can go for further career counselling services.

Senior manager of the skill education and counselling unit, Shivranjani Kulkarni, observed the lack of understanding required in making career choices at a young age. Students tend to make career decisions which are influenced by peer pressure which they might regret in future. The students will thus be benefitted by using VAS if they want to pursue vocational training. This will also lead to an increase in awareness of the differences between courses such as bachelor of vocational education and BA, BCom and BSc, she added. The increase in awareness when making career choices and choosing appropriate career decisions will increase the opportunities to study abroad and get employed in industries.