The Indian Youth Welfare Association (IYWA) in Jeddah organized a special career guidance program for students and parents on Saturday.

The program started with the recitation of the holy Qur’an by Sayed Jafri while Ghazanfar Mumtaz hosted the program. S.P. Singh, the IYWA president, welcomed the guests and said that the organization was working for the benefit of the students who need the right kind of guidance the most.

Dr. Mukhtar Khan, an eminent education consultant, Obaidur Rahman, director of international admissions of ACN Groups of Institutes, R.A. Chaudhery, the founder and chairman of ACN Group of Institutes, Wazir Akhter and Dr. Nassem Akhter, educationists from King Abdulaziz University were the main speakers.

Dr. Mukhtar Khan initiated the program with the opportunities and options available for the students of grade 12 to take a decision regarding their plans for higher study.

Khan said that it is very important for parents and students to know their aptitude and which career would take them on the road of success. “Most schools today provide career counseling which requires you to take a psychometric test. The results indicate your aptitude and helps career counselors to advise you on which career to choose,” he said. He added that the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) has also started the SGAI (Students’ Global Aptitude Index), a psychometric test which students can take online after downloading it from the website www.caeergym.com and www.psychpress.com.

Khan emphasized that a wrong choice at this stage could deprive students of good career opportunities later in life.

Engineering has branched out into many other specialties such as plastic engineering for which there is a lot of demand in Saudi Arabia today, he said.

“For Indian students studying abroad and wishing to gain admission into any prestigious university or higher institute of education in India, they should apply through DASA (Direct Admission of Students Abroad) which was started by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2001-2,” Khan said. “This scheme is not only for NRIs (non-resident Indians) or PIOs (persons of Indian origin) but also for foreign nationals. The academic eligibility criterion for the scheme is 60 percent or a valid SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) subject. The application is available online and payment can be made through demand draft, wire transfer and e-transfer at the website, www.dasanit.org,” he explained.

Khan also recommended that this is the right time for students of grade 12 to take a decision regarding their higher study plans and that the ACN Group of Institutions, Aligarh would be a great option for students looking to study in a reputable institute in Northern India.

In Saudi Arabia, institutes of higher education such as the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) offers courses to all nationalities while the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah offers three-year courses in networking, insurance, marketing, sales, accounting and pharmacy at the university’s Jeddah Community College( JCC). They will start taking female students from 2014.

The Dammam Community College also offers associate degrees over a course of 3 years and is open to all nationalities. The courses offered are accounting, computer application and marketing. There are 52 community colleges in the Kingdom providing different courses to meet the requirements of the job market.

“Those who want to make a career in hospitality management or tourism management have a number of opportunities such as the National Hospitality and Tourism institute, Riyadh, Prince Sultan College for Tourism and Business, Jeddah and the Institute of Tourism and Hospitality in AlKhobar,” he said.

R.A. Chaudhery, the founder of ACN groups of institutes assured about the safety and security of the institutes, and invited parents to come and tour the institutes.

Dr. Nassem Akther also emphasized on the students to look into other careers beside the medical field and engineering such as law which he said is an excellent option.

A presentation by the ACN Group of Institutions, Aligarh was presented to highlight the available courses and their fee structure.

Mir Gazanfar Ali Zaki, General Secretary of IYWA gave the vote of thanks.