The Kalimpong-based Paramount School and eCorrigo, a cloud-based education platform, jointly organised the hills’ first online career counselling session on Monday night as part of an initiative to motivate and mentor students from the region in time of Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

The expert in the inaugural session called “Career Talk” was Sumeet Mohanty, founder director of Phycolonic Technologies, an agricultural biotechnology company. Each talk would have prominent professionals from different works of life from across the country talk about their journey and hold interactive session with the participating students and their parents.

Anupam Lama, the principal of Paramount School, said the objective of the online initiative was to help the students from the hills and the region in general realise their potential and make informed career choices. “Career Talk will be a bi-monthly affair. It is free of cost and anyone can join from anywhere,” he said.

The experts would be drawn from various fields, including business, music, cinema, art and sports. “The experts will try to introduce students to the nature and scope of the subjects of their choice and educate them on the skills required. The experts will also share their insights and provide tips to students,” he added.

Shivangi Jain, the business development manager of eCorrigo, said Career Talk hopes to help spread awareness on different career opportunities and the pitfalls associated with every profession.

“Ecorrigo is a Saas (software as a service)-based online learning platform crafted to fill the gaps in the education sector created by the pandemic,” she said.

Most of those who took part in the inaugural session were all praise for the initiative of the organisers. “It was quite interesting and inspiring. Enjoyed his (Mohanty’s) talks and stories,” said Aaryan Pradhan, a Class XII student of Dr. Graham’s Homes, who wants to take up horticulture and landscaping as a career.

Naveen Bajla, a guardian who attended the virtual session with his daughter, said it was more informative than physically attending career guidance programmes. “Such guidance would certainly help our children in choosing their streams and career according to their strengths,” he said.