Why Grade 9 Is the Right Time for Self Discovery:

There is a question almost every student hears at some point:

What do you want to become?

Some answer immediately. Doctor. Engineer. Teacher. Entrepreneur.

Others do not have an answer yet.

That does not mean they lack ambition. They may simply need more time and opportunity to understand themselves and see what is possible.

Grade 9 is a good time to begin that process. It is not about choosing a career at fourteen. It is about helping students understand their interests, strengths and values before important decisions come their way.

The Gap in Career Guidance The numbers tell an important story.

The Bharat Career Aspirations Report 2025, by UNICEF YuWaah and iDreamCareer, surveyed 21,239 students across 115 schools, 14 districts and seven states. Among the government school students surveyed, only about 9% had access to professional career guidance.

A 2024 UNICEF-supported survey found a similar picture. Only 9.36% of students, or 465 out of 4,968, reported receiving and being aware of career guidance services.

These numbers are not about students' ambition. They show that many students are making important decisions with limited access to guidance.

Start With the Student

Before asking a student which career they want, there are simpler questions to ask:

What am I good at?

What do I enjoy?

What am I curious about?

What matters to me?

What would I like to learn?

This focus on self understanding is also reflected in NCERT's guidance and counselling framework, which includes self awareness, career awareness, career exploration, goal setting, problem solving and decision making.

Students Need to See More Possibilities

A student's idea of a career is often shaped by what they see around them.

Doctor. Engineer. Teacher. Lawyer. Businessperson.

But there is much more beyond these familiar choices.

Technology, biotechnology, design, research, sustainability, public policy, sports, digital media, social entrepreneurship and skilled trades are just some of the areas students can explore.

NEP 2020 also places greater emphasis on vocational education and its integration with mainstream schooling.

The OECD's research on teenage career readiness points to the importance of career conversations, workplace experiences, role models and exposure to the world of work.

Students need to see possibilities before they can consider them.

Knowing Yourself Matters

Career information is only one part of the process.

Students also need confidence, decision making skills and the ability to understand and manage themselves.

The CASEL framework identifies five areas of social emotional learning: self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making.

Research covering 424 studies and more than 575,000 students across 53 countries found positive outcomes from well designed school based social emotional learning programmes.

This is why career guidance and self awareness need to go together.

The MYSELF Programme

This is the thinking behind ASquare Foundation's MYSELF Career Guidance Programme for Grade 9 students.

MYSELF brings together self awareness, social emotional learning and career exploration. Through a 30 session programme, students reflect on their strengths, interests and values, explore different careers and connect what they learn in school with possible future pathways.

The purpose is not to tell a fourteen year old what career to choose.

It is to help them understand themselves before they make that choice.

ASquare Foundation has reported that MYSELF reached more than 5,500 Grade 9 students across more than 100 government schools in Telangana during the 2024–25 academic year.

Begin Before the Choice

Career guidance should not start only when a student is about to choose a stream or course.

Grade 9 gives students time to explore before they have to decide.

For ASquare Foundation, the question is not simply, “What should I become?”

It is:

“Who am I, what matters to me and what could I explore?”

That is where career exploration begins.