IIM-L students turn mentors

The students of the Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow (IIM-L) have donned a new role.

They are doubling up as mentors for undergraduate students from poor sections of society. An initiative called Disha has been launched by the institute's social development cell, Bhavishya.

Disha, which started in August last year with a batch of just 34 students, aims to give career guidance to the youth. The team behind the programme hopes to take the number to 100 this year.

"Although started as a de-stressing exercise for students, the initiative has groomed the youth in multi-tasking. It has also encouraged students to contribute in some way or the other to society," says DS Sengar, chairman, student affairs committee, IIM-L.

The first phase involved the identification of class XI students from a government school, on the basis of their performance in board examinations and a psychometric test. VP Singh, a trained psychologist with a doctorate in counselling, designed the test.

"Often children are unaware of the multiple career opportunities and hence end up taking wrong decisions. Disha is trying to help out students by providing free career counselling. The programme targets Class XI students who are at a stage when career decisions are taken," Sengar added.

Devi Singh, director, IIM-L, and Sengar were closely involved in the conceptualisation of this programme.

The second phase comprised a workshop where the selected students were brought to the IIM-L campus to meet their mentors. This was followed by in-depth discussions between the mentors and the students.

The next phase included career counselling sessions with professionals from various fields.

"These students are talented. The only thing they lack is proper guidance," said IIM-L student Mukesh Patnaik, who coordinates the programme.

A session to familiarise the students with the basic functions and use of computers was organised on the IIM-L campus.

Besides Disha, there are a number of initiatives that are being carried out by Bhavishya like the Siksha Jyoti Abhiyan and village adoption programme.

www.iiml.ac.in