Jalandhar, January 19: With the aim to evaluate the effectiveness of a mentorship-based model in improving the student engagement and to enhance their motivation, Department of School Education, Punjab in collaboration with Indian School of Business (ISB) under the Jump Start India (JSI) initiative, has launched a three-month Mentorship programme for the Meritorious Schools based in Patiala, Jalandhar, Mohali, Gurdaspur and Amritsar.
As many as 500 students of class 12th of Meritorious Schools in the first phase are participating in the programme. Under this initiative, each meritorious student has been given an ISB student as mentor to motivate, build future focused and career related capabilities for the mentees (the person receiving training). Besides, these ISB students who have volunteered as mentors belong to PGP, PGP-PRO, PGP-MAX and AMPPP programmes at ISB.
As per information from Rajeshwar Upadhyay, Director, Par Excellence, who is supporting this initiative and conducting baseline and final evaluation, said that the mentors are engaging with the students over telephonic/zoom conversations to analyse their current state of motivation and the problems they have been facing and accordingly converse with them for specified hours every week for a three-month period.
However, the performance of the mentees will be evaluated as per their board results as well as via comprehensive tests designed, he added.
Divulging more information on how the mentors and mentee (a person who is advised, trained, or counselled by a mentor), are being assessed in the programme, Dr Aarushi Jain, Associate Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy at ISB and the Principal Investigator of the RCT, said that the participants are assessed on some basic competencies to be successful as the mentees on how to leverage the mentoring relationship for personal, intra-personal and career related pursuits; however the mentors are assessed and trained on how to run successful mentoring relationships by leveraging their own experiences, knowledge and nurturing skills.
She further said that this mentoring programme has the power to transform the way talented and meritocratic students from Punjab to career-ready scholars.
When asked about the Jump Start India initiative, Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, ISB who leads the JSI initiative emphasised that “Indian School of Business has set up JumpStartIndia@ISB initiative to deploy the faculty expertise and student resources to generate solutions to the most pressing challenges before the country on its road to recovery”.
He said that students of 12th standard are at a crucial stage in their careers and yet are at high risk of dropping out of the education system altogether, if not engaged in a meaningful way in this critical time. “The Randomized Control Trial (RCT) being conducted will help in assessing if the model can be replicated and scaled up to improve the motivation level and performance of students across the state”, he added.
Education Secretary Krishan Kumar said by starting such programmes, we are trying best to keep the students engaged so that they don't miss out on key portions of their social and psychological development. Besides, such initiatives also provide exposure to students and prepare them for various competitive exams.
Sharing her experience of the Mentorship programme, Ritu Pushkarna, Principal, Meritorious School, Mohali said, “The program initiated by the ISB for the Education Department, Punjab will have a long-term impact on the teaching learning process in MSM Mohali. The students not only learn about career opportunities, but I am definite it shall improve their communication skills, problem solving techniques, understanding body language, and would help in overall personality development. It’s my faith that they shall broaden their vision for future”, she added.
“My Mentor is very good and I learn a lot of things from her. She guides me on how to make my future bright”, says Jashanpreet, Mentee, Meritorious School, Gurdaspur.