College and Career Guidance (CCG) at Ekya Schools has been set-up to support the institution’s holistic approach towards achieving a full education. Through timely initiatives aimed towards students, teachers and parents, CCG endeavors to ensure high school education with a purpose. Senior school is a crucial time in every student’s academic journey. In these years, we at Ekya, are not only looking to inculcate a competitive spirit for students to do well in examinations but also develop self-awareness.

Our aim is to facilitate informed decision making on behalf of the student and their parents, so that the educational and co-curricular choices that the student makes are part of a larger journey of self-discovery culminating in successful admission into a desired program and university. To ensure this, we work with students from Grade 9 through 12 in a highly focused and diligent manner. Below is a brief summary of the staged process we follow which also works as a roadmap for our students and parents.

Grade 9- Discover
Build on self-awareness as students recognize their academic inclinations and strengths. Explore and develop talents and interests outside the classroom. Start building a portfolio of activities and achievements.
Grade 10- Refine
Reflect on experience to further refine choices and goals. Carefully contemplate stream selection. Develop expertise in abilities and talents. Update portfolio. Continue co-curricular programs and plan a purposeful summer.
Grade 11- Converge
Crystalize post-high school plans. Investigate course and college options, build a potential list. Enhance co-curricular participation. Update resume and complete targeted internship. Take standardized tests. Identify potential referees. Attend university sessions.
Grade 12- Focus
Create a sound plan to balance academics, co-curricular activities and college applications. Finalize list of courses/ colleges. Plan a calendar with important dates and deadlines. Take the relevant tests. Apply to universities.

Placements

Top Placements AY-2019-20
St. Johns Medical College
M.S. Ramaiah Medical College
NIT, Trichy
IISER Multiple Campuses
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
Vellore Institute of Technology
SRM Institute of Science & Technology
R.V College of Engineering

NALSAR, Hyderabad
NUALS, Kochi
M.S. Ramaiah College of Law
Symbiosis Law School
Christ University Law College

NIFT Multiple Campuses
NID Multiple Campus
Srishti School of Design

National University Singapore
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
University of Melbourne, Australia
Macquarie University,Australia
TU Delft, Netherlands
St Mary’s University,Canada
Brock University, Canada
Purdue University, USA
University of Iowa, USA

Career Camp 2020

In November 2020, Ekya Schools organized their first ever Virtual Career Camp. Our students attended a series of sessions by universities as well as experts from academia and industry.
The event started off with a panel discussion on the topic ‘Planning and Preparing for Careers in the 21st-century complex landscape’. Our esteemed panel included

• Mr. Nikhil Kamat, Co-Founder Zerodha
• Career Coach, Ms. Vishwapriya Kochhar
• Professor, Dr. V. Ramasubramanian, Ph.D TIFR.

The event also included an exclusive parent workshop by Dr. Sowmyashree Kaku (PhD, NIMHANS, Bangalore) on the topic ‘Parenting Generation-Z’.
We concluded the camp with an exciting list of alumni which included Mr. Nasser Azzeh of Jord Indian fame.
Both students and parents found the sessions to be highly insightful, relevant and beneficial.

Meet the Universities

In order to help our students make informed choices we regularly organize university information sessions. These ‘Meet the University’ events provide our students a platform to find out more about university options, ask questions, understand program requirements and assess ‘fit’.
In 2020,we had interactive sessions with institutions from India and abroad :
Plaksha University
SKEMA Business School
Ashoka University
Flames University
Kreya University
CMR University

Student Workshops

CCG has been regularly hosting student seminars and workshops. Some of the recent sessions included the following topics:
Career Planning
Academic Stream Selection
Resume Building
Study abroad

Alumni Interaction

With several of the popular entrance exams round the corner, in February, CCG organized a session on ‘Study Skills and Exam Success’. We invited our alumnae Anusha Rajesh (NID, Assam) and Priyasha Sinha (NALSAR Hyderabad) along with an external speaker Vibhanshu Lodhi (IIT-Delhi) for an interactive session wherein, our student speakers shared their success mantra for cracking some of the toughest exams in the country.

Parent Workshops

We believe parents are important stakeholders in the student career development process. CCG also organized workshops to bring out the importance of parental support in developing student self-awareness and supporting their ward’s career planning.

Counseling

As students progress through the four stage i.e. Discovery, Refine, Converge &, Focus,, the CCG team collaborates with each student to address their individual interests, goals and aspirations. At the start of the academic year, the CCG team works with each student to create an annual action plan that is aligned with their broader career objectives.