Recently the Board of Directors of expat community schools in Oman decided to provide a free psychometric evaluation to the class IX and X students in the country, so that they will have a clearer understanding of their career choices after they finish school and can work towards excelling in their chosen field.

Apparently, there is nothing wrong with giving guidance to the students in their mid-teens to give them focus with regards to their future. But if this psychometric evaluation becomes judgmental or something goes wrong in the evaluation process, it might prove counterproductive.

The argument is that psychometric assessments help students get a better understanding of what career options are suited to them, their personality and skills. Of course, if one young individual is helped in understanding their own abilities and aptitudes it would help them channelize their future and career. But is a teenager capable of taking such a decision is the question.

Though the school authorities argue that the programme has been designed by psychologists, and these assessments provide clear ideas as to what career paths are apt we should keep in mind that it is an experiment. The board has even set up a facility for this.

We all agree that Class X is a turning point in the academic life of a student. But are they capable of streamlining their career at this stage? If a student shows certain career interest and talent in a certain subject based on their academic training so far, it is not necessary that he or she would develop in that direction only. A bad teacher is enough to turn a student away from a subject and the same student might fall in love with the same subject later, with the help and support of another teacher. 

Technically speaking one might be able to evaluate the orientation of the talent of a student but it is not necessary that the evaluation would be comprehensive and it is likely to change. Moreover, if the evaluation is contrary to the ambition of a child, how will the school authorities handle it?

Further, if at all a student is given admission in a certain higher secondary course based on this evaluation alone, is it guaranteed that he or she would excel in that if they have a different bend of mind? Moreover, will the evaluation process be able to judge a student’s humanitarian values, attitude and approach to society? From peer pressure to parental pressure there are many factors that could influence a student at this stage, which might hide his/her real talent. Will the test be able to unravel this for sure, or will it end up being another campaign material alone?

Scientifically speaking, psychometric analysis is the structured process to measure the psychometric attributes of an individual by thoroughly analyzing the test data. But if something goes wrong in the collection or evaluation of the data, the entire result might be misleading. 

Psychometric analysis is used in high-stake talent-related decisions and it contributes to the decision-making process. But diverting a student to a certain stream of career based on a 30-minute evaluation process might not bring the desired result though it might reflect their cognitive abilities and attitudes. There are umpteen areas of interest a student might discover only after the higher secondary or even their graduation. They could discover new possibilities as they grow up and turn to new directions that their teachers or parents could not even imagine. If the school authorities design the evaluation based on the conventional notions about career, it might lead to an undesired result.

Hence the authorities should not impose anything with regards to the higher education on the students on the basis of this evaluation alone and let them have a free hand in choosing the course of their liking so that the decision would not lead to any stigma in future.