Bridging the Career Guidance Gap: Curriculum, Pedagogy, and NEP 2020 in India’s Tribal Schools

Abstract

Background: Career decision-making among secondary school students in marginalised contexts is shaped by personal, socio-cultural, and institutional factors. In India’s tribal districts, poverty, geographical remoteness, and limited access to career information intersect with curriculum relevance, pedagogical quality, and policy implementation to constrain students’ career horizons. Purpose: This study aims to examine the determinants of career decision-making among Grade 10 students in government secondary schools of the tribal district of Koraput, Odisha, India, with emphasis on the role of curriculum, pedagogy, career counselling, and National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 provisions in shaping career outcomes. Methods: A mixed-methods design with QUAL-Quan model was employed, combining a primary survey of 320 students drawn through multistage random sampling from Koraput and Jeypore blocks with secondary analysis of policy documents, government audit reports, and programme data. Exploratory factor analysis was used to generate latent construct scores, which were then analysed using regression models. Results: The findings indicated that parenting style emerged as the strongest predictor of career decision-making, followed by urban locality, while career counselling demonstrated a positive but emerging influence. Secondary data analysis identified persistent policy-practice shortfalls in NEP 2020 implementation particularly in the context of career guidance in tribal schools. The examination-oriented state curriculum and absence of a formal career guidance module limit students’ career prospects leaving career awareness largely unstructured. Moreover, prescriptive pedagogy offered limited scope for career exploration, though schools adopting experiential teaching methods reported positive outcome. Conclusion: The study concludes that policy-practice discrepancies in NEP 2020, curriculum is aligned with local realities, lack of structured career guidance module and persistent didactic pedagogy collectively create career guidance gaps in tribal schools. It underscores the need for embedding career orientation within formal curriculum, adopting experiential and culturally responsive pedagogy, strengthening counselling infrastructure and implementing gender sensitive interventions to support equitable career decision-making among tribal secondary school students.