21st Century Education – 4 Must Haves for Schools

“How do I find a good school for my child?” is an age-old question that all parents struggle with. Today, while the question essentially remains unchanged, the factors involved in school selection vary based on the kind of education parents want for their children.

In today’s modern, urban scenario, education is much more than just the three ‘R’s – reading, writing and arithmetic. Many parents are well aware of the competitive pressures that their child will face in the future, and this majorly drives their decision when choosing schools.

At Mentoria, we know you want to provide your students with top-notch facilities and give parents confidence in your institution. That’s why Mentoria’s holistic psychometric career assessment test would be the perfect addition to your school. It helps students find their ideal career based on their unique skills, interests and abilities!

Having said that, there are many other factors that feature into this decision-making process. Here are some of the top deciding factors for parents when choosing a school:

1. Quality Education

With the internet and social media at their fingertips, parents today are much more informed about schools. They base their decisions on parent reviews, rankings, the performance of students in board exams and so on. Thus, apart from other facilities, if the quality of education is projected as poor, it will definitely deter parents from picking that school.

As Manju, an independent researcher in humanitarian development, said, “We were very particular that our children get quality education even if it meant slightly higher costs. Hence, while there were many schools in close proximity to our residence, we opted for another one. We were convinced that the children needed an environment that helped develop them holistically, with equal importance to academics and extracurricular activities.”

2. Facilities

All parents are concerned about the facilities available at schools. Aspects such as security, availability of transport facilities, caregivers in the school to handle very small children and so on, are deciding factors. As Sudha, mother of a primary school child shared from personal experience, “When going through one particular school campus, we saw small children going to the washroom alone and unescorted. We were instantly put-off and did not consider that school.”

Teaching and learning aids have undergone drastic changes. We see facilities such as smartboards, multimedia-equipped classrooms, Learning Management Systems, etc., installed in many schools. Parents have now come to expect these as the norm.

Other parent-friendly features that are increasingly becoming the norm are – online access to the student’s academic progress, homework assignments, being informed by SMS of critical information such as school closure due to rains, mobile apps to track bus movements, and ease of fee payment. 

3. Career Guidance

These days, several avenues have opened up in terms of career opportunities. This has led to an increase in the number of parents turning to experts for guidance on which careers would be best suited to their children. If the school provides an in-house career counsellor, it is seen as a big plus for parents. While some schools have career counsellors, this number is very dismal. As per the 2018 MHRD Educational Statistics at a Glance, out of 2,49,089 secondary schools across the country, only 11,977 (~4.8%) schools provide educational and vocational counselling to students.

Adding this facility to your school would spell a huge advantage for you in terms of attracting parents that look for an all-round education for their children. There are also alternative options like partnering with companies who provide career guidance for students like Mentoria. You can institutionalise these assessments to ensure it becomes part of the services your school offers.

Get in touch with us at Mentoria to arrange career counselling workshops at your school with our expert career counsellors to help your students discover their ideal career path. 

4. Holistic Development

Gone are the days when going to school just meant attending class, learning your subject well – even if it meant ‘mugging up’, and scoring well in exams. Parents now visualise their child’s future path well in advance and plan for it. In addition to academic excellence, they expect their child to develop skills in other fields like music, art, and sports.

Extracurricular activities have gone beyond cricket, basketball or football coaching. Schools provide exposure to wider areas such as special interest clubs – robotics, astronomy, programming, literature, archery, etc. Parents look for these initiatives in schools as they work as differentiating factors for their child when applying to a foreign university for higher studies or facing challenges in the corporate world, later in life.

While we often consider economic background, social status, and a parent’s own upbringing as key motivators to selecting schools, these seem to have taken a backseat. Today, parents want schools that are well-equipped to shape their children into #CareerReady individuals, who are best prepared to face life in the 21st Century.

Give your students the gift of guidance: partner with Mentoria for our career counselling workshops. Our 4-step career guidance solution helps us find the right career fit for students from 3 streams, 850+ courses & 12,000+ careers. Get in touch with us today!