Punjab partners with IIT Madras to train 5,000 school teachers as career mentors

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The North News

Chandigarh, December 5

Punjab has launched a state-wide career guidance initiative in collaboration with IIT Madras Pravartak, becoming the first state in India to train schoolteachers as certified career mentors. Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said on Friday that more than 5,000 teachers will undergo online training to equip them to guide students towards “informed, future-ready career choices”. The programme forms part of a broader teacher-upskilling effort aimed at building a structured career counselling system within government schools.

Under the initiative, teachers will receive free training in foundational career counselling, classroom facilitation and one-to-one mentoring. They will gain access to structured assessment tools, top 100 high-demand career pathways, and global and national labour-market trends. IIT Madras Pravartak will provide academic support and digital learning resources throughout the programme.

“Our goal is to enable teachers to serve as effective career mentors in their own schools,” Bains said, adding that the move would help create a “robust career guidance ecosystem” across Punjab’s education system. He said teachers would be trained to help students identify strengths, understand new-age professions and choose career paths based on aptitude rather than guesswork.

PSEB Chairman Dr Amarpal Singh said the programme would particularly benefit students in rural and underserved areas by expanding access to professional-quality guidance that was previously limited to private counsellors. “Thousands of teachers will acquire new skills and confidence to shape the futures of lakhs of children,” he said.

IIT Madras Pravartak Chief Knowledge Officer Srikanth expressed confidence in the collaboration, saying: “Our aim is simple — no child in Punjab should make a career decision in confusion or without the right information.”