PW invited parents of Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur to share best ways to educate children about 21st century careers

“Our 17-year old daughter Eesha (class XII) is academically brilliant and routinely tops her class. We have observed her strengths and weaknesses over the years and are of the opinion that her aptitude lies in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects. We have communicated the importance of making the right career choice to live happily. When it started becoming apparent that Eesha was aiming to study abroad, we made it a point to visit the US-based Harvard, MIT, Princeton universities and the UK-based Cambridge University during our family vacations.” — Nidhi G. Agarwal, advisor and region head (Rajasthan), KPMG

“My ten-year-old daughter Anvi (class V) is too young for serious discussions on careers or higher education programmes. However we both believe that effective communication, analytical and creative thinking skills, which can be nurtured from early years, are essential skill-sets for any future work environment. Therefore, we have enrolled Anvi for piano, taekwondo, art & craft and kathak classes, and routinely engage her in roles and responsibilities at home. We also try our best to talk respectfully of all professions. We are confident these activities will help Anvi develop holistically and make an informed career choice.” — Kriti Agarwal, homemaker

“We always encourage our sons Kush (17) and Arjun (15) to think about their role models to decide future goals and ambitions. Kush and Arjun are fitness freaks and regularly play soccer which we encourage, as we believe all-round development will help them in the 21st century jobs market. Reading is another childhood habit we have helped inculcate by buying them a library of books. As parents, we prefer to give our children the freedom to choose careers of their choice with our unconditional support.” — Sanjeev Pandey, self-employed.

“Today children are spoilt for choice. I believe our job as parents is to not pressure them to select a career of our choice but offer them guidance on how to acquire knowledge and skill-sets in areas of their interest. With this objective in mind, we encourage our children Krish (class IX) and Kavin (class VI) to speak their minds about occupations that interest them, their dreams and goals in life. For instance, when Krish was 13 years old, he started playing cricket with the same passion and enthusiasm that he invested in academics. We advised him that if he is able to balance his time between sports and academics, he will achieve his dreams.” — Deepika Sharma, entrepreneur