As educators and school leaders, the need of the hour for us is to understand and support the parents of our students. Right from managing their own work-related stress to improving their own digital literacy, they have had to deal with too many changes in their lives in the last few months. This is when we can show them that we care.
So, what sets Successful Schools apart?
They adapt. Quickly.
Several successful schools have already started to engage with parents in a different manner, through their partnership with us. What’s more, the results have been phenomenal.
What did these schools have in common?
They could dig deep into the psyche of the parent. They had one important tool at their disposal to understand what has been running on parents’ minds.
The Annual Parent Aspirations, Concerns & Expectations Survey
In Part I of this 5-blog series, we wanted to give you a deeper look into the Univariety PACE form- what it covered and much more.
What is PACE?
PACE is Univariety’s annual Parent survey. The Parents Aspirations, Concerns, and Expectation (PACE) identifies top concerns of Indian parents. Over 17,000 parents of grade 8-12 students participated in 2019-20 from across 40 cities in India.
Key objectives of PACE
We wanted parents to start talking- about different areas that they felt confident about or needed immediate help with in terms of their child’s education and future. We divided these concerns into four major categories
- Career- Related
- Academics- Related
- Non-academics Related
- College-Related
Across these categories, we also split our concerns into subcategories.
Career Concerns
| Career Questions | Helps parents focus on and raise their concerns on career options |
| It being the right fit for my child (based on their interest) | Is there a match between what the parent believes is right for the child and what the child is |
| Salary & Career prospects | Do parents have enough information about ideal career prospects and corresponding income? |
| Course options for college | Do parents know what course their child should pursue in college to reach the ideal career? |
| Preparation to get into a college | Do parents know what entry-level preparation is required to get into college for their child’s ideal career? |
| Entry-level job requirements | Do parents know about the entry-level job requirement for their children to start working towards their ideal careers? |
| Day-to-day job activities | Do parents know what jobs in these shortlisted ideal careers entail? |
Parent Comments
“We as parents are not sure of the emerging fields and expectations from the candidate.” Sahana Umesh, Parent of Class 10 Student
“She’s isn’t satisfied with what we put in front of her as career options and she’s facing problems in choosing one.”
Nazneen, Parent of Class 12 Student
Academics Concerns
| Academic Questions | Helps parents focus and raise concerns around student academics |
| Stream Selection | Do parents know the right stream choice for their students and how to help their child plan for the same? |
| Curriculum | Do parents know the right curriculum for their child? |
| Subject Level Preparation | Do parents know the subject level preparation required in each grade? |
| School Tests Scores | Do parents need help with school test scores? |
Parent Comments
“Problem in maths subject and lack of focus.”
Pankaj Garg, Parent of Class 12 Student
“Marks required in relevant subjects for getting admission to the best college.”
Neeru Khanna, Parent of Class 10 Student
Non-Academics Concerns
| Non Academics Questions | Helps parents focus and raise concerns around extra-curricular and other non-academic activities |
| General Level of Confidence | Do parents see their child facing issues around general confidence? |
| Seriousness Towards Studies | Do parents believe that their child is serious about studies? |
| Scope of Extra-Curricular Activities | Do parents need help in understanding the scope of extra-curricular activities in colleges and careers? |
| Goal Setting/Planning | Do parents feel that their child needs help setting goals? |
| Concentration/ Focus | Do parents think that their child is unable to concentrate or focus? |
| Time Management Skills | Do parents see their child struggle with time management? |
Parent Comments
“Academic goal setting & planning. Varied interests & being very good in multiple extracurricular activities…. making too difficult to narrow down, focus & persist.”
Niraj Kumar, Parent of Class 12 Student
“His time management skills”
Bhavi Vora, Parent of Class 10 Student
College Concerns
| College Questions | Helps parents focus and raise concerns on colleges |
| Course Options & Alternatives | Do parents know the course and alternatives for college/ ideal career? |
| Ideal list of Colleges | Do parents know how many colleges to shortlist and how ideal they are for their child? |
| Entrance Exams | Do parents know about the entrance exams for their ideal college and how their child can prepare for that? |
| Finances and Scholarship | Do parents know about scholarships for the college of their choice and have they planned finances for the same? |
| Country-based Application Requirements | Do parents know how application requirements vary from country to country? |
Parent Comments
“We’re not really informed about the best courses, career options, and colleges. My child is really determined for Actuaries but that is a really tough course. We need guidance for the same. We also need to know about the preparation for going to a college and the best colleges for my child. I’m confident about my child’s grades and seriousness.”
Ruchi Goyal, Parent of Class 11 Student
“Lack of information about different types of exams and scholarships available and colleges.”
T.V. Hegde, Parent of Class 12 Student
Impact of PACE:
The first step in any career decision-making journey is to identify the key roadblocks and considerations of the parent and student. At Univariety, Parents are an integral part of this journey and are involved in every step of the process. While traditionally, Indian parents are heavily involved in their child’s career selection, our aim was to ALIGN them to their child’s aptitudes, interests, and dreams.
As a result of PACE, our counselors are empowered with deep insight into both the students’ and parents’ goals. This enables them to guide families into making well-informed Career and college choices as well as makes the journey a far smoother experience.
Our upcoming blogs will go into greater detail about our key findings from each of the 4 concern categories.
I want to know more about how PACE can help my School
A self-proclaimed coffee addict and a fan of self-help books, Nidarshana works very closely with schools, universities, and educators at Univariety. In her decade-long career, she has dabbled in Account Management, Zumba fitness, and in several forms of writing- from features to creative blogs to social media. She is also a dancer, fitness enthusiast, and a noisy vegan
