Rightedu - Web Based Vocational & Educational Guidance System

Abstract

Tlie current methods for educational and vocational guidance have their roots in the frameworks offered for this purpose by vocational psychology over the past century. Computer assisted vocational and educational guidance has made a mark for itself as it offers conciseness, updatability, and analytical capabilities of a much better quality than manual work in this area. The education sectors around the globe have implemented these frameworks at different levels in the educational hierarchy to ensure that then citizen adapt to the lifelong process of vocational and educational counseling right from their school lives. Different universities as well as colleges have developed their automated systems for this cause, so they could guide their own students effectively through their education. Such systems are also operational at government level in some countries. In Pakistan, where many other problems related to education are gradually coming to light; such as outdated curriculum, absence of fundamental facilities in schools, incompetent faculty et cetera, there is one serious issue that exists almost unseen and unnoticed. It has almost become a social norm in Pakistan that the students who are about to enter their undergrad life and make one of the most crucial decisions that will have an impact on the entirety of their future; i.e. deciding a career path for themselves, are left with a handful of options to choose from. These options may or may not be in alignment with their personal interests. These options may include career paths such as some engineering disciplines (civil, mechanical, electrical et cetera), medical science, and business administration. In many cases, students do not even have the liberty to make their own choice. Their decision is influenced by the opinion of their parents, guardians or other family members, or they just have to follow the family trend. Such practices are only causing harm as students are not encouraged to choose a career path solely in accordance with their interests and work activities that they prefer. The consequences include increasingly unsatisfied jobs, switching between study majors, educational frustration, incompetent personnel, high dropout rate, and what not! Although counseling is provided in Pakistan to some extent, it is only available in schools that charge sky-high fees and is a manual operation. This project attempts to provide a solution to this problem in a way that is accessible, fast, and reliable. A classic vocational guidance framework is implemented, which is most commonly known as RIASEC. This framework has been tested over the years in numerous cultures around the world and has come out to be one of the most accurate and effective framework for this cause. This system works by asking a series of questions from the user and presenting appropriate career paths for them based on their answers to theshown questions. The institutes where they could pursue their chosen career path are also suggested. To promote collaboration on education related problems, a forum for public discussions and reception of feedback regarding the system in a transparent way is also integrated.