Chandigarh: To provide continuous career counselling support to students in govt schools, with special focus on the key transition stages of Classes X and XII, the Punjab govt is set to implement a state-wide career counselling framework across govt high and senior secondary schools.The project will be implemented through a hybrid service delivery model, comprising school-level counselling support through trained teachers, district-level in-person counselling services and centralised remote counselling services accessible beyond school hours. The model will be supported by digital tools, including psychometric assessments and a centralised technology platform, to enable data-driven decision-making and monitoring.To execute the project, Punjab’s school education department has initiated the process of roping in a firm that will be responsible for operationalising the model in an integrated manner. This will include deployment of human resources, establishment of counselling infrastructure, development and management of digital systems, capacity building of school-level stakeholders and delivery of counselling services.A minimum of one dedicated counsellor will be deployed in each district. In addition, a buffer pool of at least two to three counsellors will be maintained to ensure continuity of services, support high-demand districts and enable rotational deployment across locations.A centralised counselling helpline will also be established, supported by a dedicated team of at least four to six qualified counsellors. The helpline will operate from Monday to Saturday between 2 pm and 8 pm. In case of higher call volume, the number of counsellors will be increased. The remote counselling team will provide real-time counselling support to students, address queries and escalate complex cases for further intervention, where required.At the school level, at least two teachers in each school will be identified, trained and supported to act as School Counselling Coordinators. They will serve as the first point of contact for students and will be equipped with basic counselling skills and knowledge of career pathways.In-person counselling services will be provided through district-level counsellors. One designated counselling day per week, Saturday or Sunday, will be fixed for open counselling sessions from 9 am to 3 pm, with the venue finalised by the District Level Committee.Counsellors will also undertake cluster-based field visits during weekdays on a rotational basis to cover all blocks within the district. A monthly counselling schedule will be prepared for each district, detailing block and cluster coverage, school visits and the designated weekly counselling day.The project will also include psychometric assessments for students through a standardised, scientifically validated framework. The assessments will be conducted primarily through digital tools, with reports generated and made available on the digital platform within seven working days from the date of completion.The assessment tools and outputs will be available in Punjabi, Gurmukhi script and English. They will evaluate students’ aptitude, interests and behavioural attributes, with automated scoring and reports to be interpreted by qualified counsellors for personalised guidance.A secure and scalable digital platform will also be deployed. The platform will facilitate student registration, counselling request management, psychometric assessments, session tracking, reporting and monitoring.It will also maintain a digital profile of each student, including basic details, academic information, counselling history, psychometric assessment results, stream preferences and final selection. Each counselling interaction will be recorded as a case entry, with tracking of open, in-progress and closed cases.
