Educational and Occupational Aspiration In Relation To School Environment of the Secondary School Students of South Kamrup Area of Assam- A Study

Aspiration means the goal that individual set for him in a task which has intense personal significance for him and in which his ego is involved. School is one of the major agencies of socialization which has great influence and bearing on the development of aspirations of the child. It is the School which sets the pattern for the child’s attitude towards people and society, aids intellectual growth in the child and supports his aspirations and achievements. A positive affective School environment increases the livelihood that a child can initiate and persist in challenging and intellectual tasks. Thus the present study is envisaged to assess the Educational and Occupational aspiration of the Secondary School students in relation to their School Environment. The main purpose of the study was to find out the level of Educational and Occupational aspiration in relation to the School environment of the Secondary School students. For the study, 12 Provincialized Co-Educational Secondary schools were selected as sampled Schools by using simple random sampling technique and 490 Class-X students from the sampled schools were selected. Educational aspiration scale (EAS), Occupational aspiration Scale (OAS) and School Environment Inventory were used as tool of the study.

the level of education and occupation. Aspiration means the goal that individual set for him in a task which has intense personal significance for him and in which his ego is involved. School is one of the major agencies of socialization which has great influence and bearing on the development of aspirations of the child. It is the School which sets the pattern for the child's attitude towards people and society, aids intellectual growth in the child and supports his aspirations and achievements. A positive affective School environment increases the livelihood that a child can initiate and persist in challenging and intellectual tasks. Thus the4 present study is envisaged to assess the Educational and Occupational aspiration of the Secondary School students in relation to their School Environment.

Statement of the Problem The statement of the present study is as follows-"Educational and Occupational Aspiration In Relation To School Environment of the Secondary School Students of South Kamrup Area of Assam-A Study"
Rationale of the Study Every student has their own aspiration towards education and occupation which is somewhere related with their School Environment. The present study can be justified under the following ground- • The investigator reviewed the earlier research studies and found that studies undertaken among the Secondary School students of South Kamrup regarding the Educational aspiration, Occupational aspiration and School Environment of Assam are very few and scopes are there for studies. • Education is an important means to develop Human capital. As one of the important elements of education students in present period are regarded as Human Resources. These resources should be nourished and developed through the light of the proper education. Educational aspiration plays a very important role in forming Occupational aspiration of the Secondary School students where both are influenced by School environment. So it is very important to do research on those variables that a proper step can take for upgrading the environment of the Secondary Schools of South Kamrup area which is an integral part of rural Kamrup of Assam. • The students of Secondary stage are the future youth of the society. They are at the turning point in which they have to take decision with regard to their occupation which is related to the stream they choose to study. In the process of their selection of career as well as educational goal, Educational and Occupational aspiration play the vital role. Thus, the researcher has taken up the Secondary School students of South Kamrup area to study their Educational and Occupational aspiration.
• The study will provide a documentary data regarding the relationship between the Educational aspiration, Occupational aspiration and School Environment of the secondary school students of South Kamrup area of Assam. • The above reasons show that the present study is relevant and justified with the practical problems and issues in the field of education.

Research Questions of the Study
The

Hypotheses
The following Hypotheses have formulated in null form to study the objectives mentioned below-1) There is no significant difference between the Educational Aspiration of boys and girls studying in Secondary Schools of South Kamrup area of Assam. 2) There is no significant difference between the Occupational Aspiration of boys and girls studying in Secondary Schools of South Kamrup area of Assam. 3) There is no significant correlation between Educational and Occupational Aspiration of the Secondary School students of South Kamrup area of Assam. 4) There is no significant correlation between Educational Aspiration and School Environment of the Secondary School students of South Kamrup area of Assam.

5)
There is no significant correlation between Occupational Aspiration and School Environment of the Secondary School students of South Kamrup area of Assam.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF THE KEY TERMS USED IN THE STUDY Educational Aspiration
Educational Aspiration refers the level of aspiration or ambition of a person to achieve education in a School, College and University. (Oxford English Dictionary, Volume 7 th Edition) The Educational Aspiration Scale developed by V.P Sharma and Anuradha Gupta describes Educational aspiration on the following dimensions. These are i) Past Experience in terms of marks obtained estimate of goal set, success or failure experienced ii) Amount of efforts made in the examination iii) Ability and capacity to study for the examination have a direct bearing upon setting a future goal.
In the present study, Educational aspiration is interpreted as the score obtained in the Educational aspiration scale developed by V.P Sharma and Anuradha Gupta which is based on the above dimensions. High score of the scale denotes high level of Educational aspiration of the respondents.

Occupational Aspiration
Occupational Aspiration refers the level of aspiration of a person to achieve a particular job or profession. (Oxford English Dictionary, Volume 7 th Edition) The Occupational aspiration scale developed by J.S. Grewal describes the Occupational aspiration (LOA) as orientation towards occupational goal defined by Haller and Miller (1963).
In the present study, Occupational aspiration is interpreted as the score obtained in the Occupational aspiration scale developed by J.S. Grewal which is based on the above definition. High score of the scale denotes high level of Occupational aspiration of the respondents.

School Environment
School Environment implies the psycho-social climate of schools as perceived by the students. It is the quality and quantity of the cognitive, emotional and social support that has been available to the students during their School life in terms of teacher-pupil interactions.
In the present study, School Environment is interpreted as the score obtained in the School Environment Inventory (SEI) developed by Dr. Karuna Shankar Mishra which is based on the above definition. High score of the scale denotes high level of School Environment of the respondents.

Secondary School Student
Secondary school students are the students between the ages of 14 to 16, admitted in Secondary School for Secondary Education after Primary School and before Higher Education. Here, students studying in class-X were taken for the study.

DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The study has been delimited from the following aspects:-

KNOWLEDGE GAP
The above reviews of related literature have made it clear that a lot of studies on Educational Aspiration, Occupational Aspiration and School Environment were already conducted in International, National and Regional level. In abroad, studies on Educational aspiration conducted with some associated variables like Social class, Parental encouragement, Socioeconomic condition, Educational attainment, Intelligence, Parent's education, Family background, Gender differences etc. In India, studies conducted on Educational aspiration and Vocational aspiration, Academic performance, Intelligence etc. Again regarding the Occupational aspiration, studies on attitude towards Occupational aspiration, Occupational aspiration and expectation etc, In Regional level, studies were conducted on Career aspiration, Career aspiration in relation to Academic achievement etc. It is remarkable that similar studies were done in the international arena regarding Educational and Occupational aspiration. Beal and Crockett (2010)  From the foregoing review of related literature, no study was found on Educational Aspiration, Occupational Aspiration in relation to School Environment of the Secondary School Students of South Kamrup area in general and in particular to Assam. So, it can be regarded as the knowledge gap between the previous study and the present study.

Population and Sample of the Study
All the Provincialized Co-Educational Secondary Schools of the Chhaygaon and Rampur Block and the students of Class X of the schools is the population of the study. There are 12 Provincialized Co-Educational Schools and all the 12 Schools were selected as sample Schools of the study. There are 963 Class-X students are enrolled in those Schools. The sample student of the study was 490 where 245 were boy student and 245 were girl students. These are the sample size of the present study. The sample students were selected by using Simple random sampling technique.

Variables Used For the Study
The variables of the study are as follows- • Gender (Boys and Girls)

Tools Used For Data Collection
In the present study, standardized scale was used as Tool. Hence, keeping in view the main objectives of this study, the investigator used two types of tools: • Educational Aspiration Scale (Form P) developed by V.P. Sharma and Anuradha Gupta.

Adaptation of Scale
The medium of instruction of the sampled schools is Assamese. Therefore the scales were translated into Assamese language and Reliability and Validity were calculated. For testing the reliability of the scale Split-half method was used and for testing validity face validity is used.

Collection of Data
For collection of data the researcher were visited the schools beforehand and take permission from the principal for collection of data. The researcher had conversation with the teachers and students in order to develop a good rapport with them. After 3 days from 1st visit the researcher went to School to start collect data by personally visiting the schools. Firstly the researcher requested the principal to make a separate sitting arrangement for the sampled students in a classroom. After that the researcher got necessary instruction to the students about the questionnaire and allows filling up the questionnaire. As per the instruction of the booklet of Educational Aspiration Scale (EAS), the researcher gave sufficient time to the students for filling up the questionnaire. The researcher was visited two schools in one day. The data regarding the Occupational Aspiration Scale (OAS) and School Environment Inventory (SEI) of the students were collected from the students by visiting the Schools through same procedure.

Level of Educational Aspiration, Occupational Aspiration and School Environment of the Secondary School Students of South Kamrup Area of Assam
The result of the study regarding level of Educational Aspiration of the Secondary School students and the Statistical Properties of obtained scores of the Secondary School Students of South Kamrup area of Assam have been presented below- Table: 1.0 shows the total number of students along with the percentage falling under different levels of Educational aspiration. The graphical presentation of the above data has shown as follows-    From the statistical calculation of the obtained scores by the Secondary School Students regarding Occupational aspiration Negative value of Skewness (-0.59) has found. Here, in this study Negative skewness value indicates that the distribution of the Occupational aspiration scores is massed at the high end of the scale (right end).

Figure 1.0: Level of Educational Aspiration of the Secondary School Students of South Kamrup area
Again, from the statistical calculation of Kurtosis of the obtained scores by the Secondary School Students regarding Occupational aspiration Negative value (-0.41) has found. So, the distribution of scores of Occupational aspiration is Platykurtic. It indicates relatively flat distribution of the Occupational aspiration scores.

Comparative study of Educational and Occupational Aspiration of boys and girls studying in the Secondary Schools of South Kamrup Area of Assam
The result of the comparative study regarding the level Educational and Occupational aspiration of boys and girl, calculation of t-value of their obtained scores has been presented below- Table 6.0 shows the comparison of boys and girls studying in the Secondary Schools of South kamrup area of Assam regarding their level of Educational aspiration. The graphical representation of Educational aspiration of boys and girls studying in Secondary Schools of South kamrup has shown in Figure 4.0 Table 7.0 shows the comparison of boys and girls studying in the Secondary Schools of South Kamrup area of Assam regarding their level of Occupational aspiration

Difference between the Educational Aspiration of boys and girls studying in the Secondary Schools of South Kamrup Area of Assam
To examine the difference between the Educational aspiration of boys and girls of the Secondary Schools of South Kamrup a null hypothesis was formulated which is as follows-Null Hypothesis: There is no significant difference between the Educational aspiration of boys and girls studying in the Secondary Schools of South kamrup Area of Assam.
To examine the above hypothesis, t-test was used. The Table 8.0 shows the N, Mean, Standard Deviation, t-value and the level of significance of the obtained scores by the boys and girls of Secondary Schools of south Kamrup area of Assam in case of Educational aspiration. The above data reveals that the Mean of the boys and the girls is 28.34 and 32.28 respectively. The data also shows the Standard Deviation of the boys and girls which is 9.03 and 7.41 respectively. The t-value of the obtained scores by the boys and girls is 5.29 and it is not significant at the 0.01 level of significance. Therefore the null hypothesis "There is no significant difference between the Educational aspiration of boys and girls studying in Secondary Schools of South Kamrup of Assam" is accepted.

Difference between the Occupational Aspiration of boys and girls studying in Secondary Schools of South Kamrup Area of Assam
To examine the difference between the Occupational aspiration of boys and girls of the Secondary Schools of South Kamrup area a null hypothesis was formulated which is as follows-Null Hypothesis: There is no significant difference between the Occupational aspiration of boys and girls studying in Secondary Schools of South kamrup Area of Assam.
To test the above hypothesis, t-test was used. The Table 9.0 shows the N, Mean, Standard Deviation, t-value and the level of significance of the obtained scores by the boys and girls of Secondary Schools of South Kamrup area of Assam in case of Occupational aspiration. The above data reveals that the Mean of the boys and the girls is 48.14 and 47.09 respectively. The data also shows the Standard Deviation of the boys and girls which is 16.32 and 8.75 respectively. The t-value of the obtained scores by the boys and girls is 0.88 which is not significant at the 0.01 level of significance. Therefore the hypothesis "There is no significant difference between the Occupational aspiration of boys and girls studying in Secondary Schools of South Kamrup of Assam" is accepted.

Relationship between Educational and Occupational Aspiration of Secondary School Students of South Kamrup Area of Assam
In order to study the relationship between Educational and Occupational aspiration of the Secondary School Students a null hypothesis was formulated.

Null Hypothesis: There is no significant correlation between the Educational and Occupational aspiration of Secondary School Students of South kamrup Area of Assam.
To test the hypothesis, Pearson's Product moment coefficient of correlation (r) was computed.  The above data reveals that the Mean of the both variable Educational aspiration and Occupational aspiration is 30.31 and 47.61 respectively. The result also shows the Standard Deviation of both the variables Educational aspiration and Occupational aspiration which are 8.49 and 13.09 respectively. From the result Positive Correlation has found between the Educational and Occupational aspiration which is 0.93. It has also found that the correlation between Educational and Occupational aspiration is significant at the 0.01 level of significance. Therefore, the null hypothesis "There is no significant correlation between the Educational and Occupational aspiration of Secondary School Students of South Kamrup Area of Assam." is rejected.

Relationship between Educational Aspiration and School Environment of Secondary School Students of South Kamrup Area of Assam
In order to study the relationship between Educational aspiration and School Environment of the Secondary School Students a null hypothesis was formulated.

Null Hypothesis: There is no significant correlation between the Educational aspiration and School Environment of Secondary School Students of South Kamrup Area of Assam
To test the hypothesis, Pearson's Product moment coefficient of correlation (r) was computed. Table 11.0 shows the Mean, Standard Deviation and Pearson Correlation of the scores obtained by the Secondary School Students of South Kamrup area regarding the Educational aspiration and School Environment. The above data reveals that the Mean of the both variable Educational aspiration and School Environment is 30.31 and 148.45 respectively. The result also shows the Standard Deviation of both the variables Educational aspiration and School Environment which is 8.49 and 148.45 respectively. From the result Positive Correlation has found between the Educational aspiration and School Environment which is 0.89. It has also found that the correlation between Educational aspiration and School Environment is significant at the 0.01 level of significance. Therefore, the null hypothesis "There is no significant correlation between the Educational aspiration and School Environment of Secondary School Students of South Kamrup Area of Assam." is rejected.

Relationship between Occupational Aspiration and School Environment of Secondary School Students of South Kamrup Area of Assam
In order to study the relationship between Occupational aspiration and School Environment of the Secondary School Students a null hypothesis was formulated.

Null Hypothesis: There is no significant correlation between the Occupational aspiration and School Environment of Secondary School Students of South Kamrup Area of Assam
To test the hypothesis, Pearson's Product moment coefficient of correlation (r) was computed.  The above data reveals that the Mean of the both variable Occupational aspiration and School Environment is 47.61 and 148.45 respectively. The result also shows the Standard Deviation of both the variables Occupational aspiration and School Environment which is 13.09 and 57.12 respectively. From the result Positive Correlation has found between the Occupational aspiration and School Environment which is 0.93. It has also found that the correlation between Occupational aspiration and School Environment is significant at the 0.01 level of significance. Therefore, the null hypothesis "There is no significant correlation between the Occupational aspiration and School Environment of Secondary School Students of South Kamrup Area of Assam." is rejected.

MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
The major findings of the study are discussed as following-

RECOMMENDATION FROM THE STUDY
• Secondary stage of the students is the threshold of their future occupation and work. So, Guidance and Counselling cell should be established in every School especially in the Schools. Through Guidance and Counselling assist them to set high aspiration towards proper education and occupation. • State Government of Assam should give priority to develop the Schools situated in South kamrup area of Assam. Regular training should be given to the teachers that they can able to create Classroom environment where the students will develop their aspiration and able to setting high aspiration towards education and occupation according to their capabilities. • School Environment is a psycho-social climate comprising different dimensions like Creative stimulation, Cognitive encouragement, Permissiveness of the teachers, relationship between the teacher and pupil etc. So keeping in view those aspects special training should be given to the all authority members and teachers of the Schools that they can contribute to make a healthy School Environment. • Secondary Schools can play a major role in arranging awareness programme on higher education. Local people, parents should be invited and try to aware them about the necessity of higher education for betterment of life. It will help the students to set higher aspiration. • Parents should always aware about their children's aspiration for future education and occupation. If a child has low level of educational and occupational aspiration, the parents should analyze their problems and try to provide proper environment which may be fruitful for their children in setting their higher aspiration. • A teacher can create a simulative environment in the School and classroom so that the children can develop their aspiration. The role of the teacher enables the child to encourage, support and co-operate in directing and controlling his development of career. • The teacher should try to reduce discrimination of girls in the Schools and into the society.
The unscientific traditions of the society have been dominating the girls. So they can not able to set higher aspiration towards education and occupation. • School administration should give focus on to provide adequate information to the students about different vocational and occupational opportunities and also should help the students to understand how to meet career goals by performing well academically and make appropriate curricular choice. • Guidance and Counselling programme should frequently organized in Schools. Those programmes in Schools should emphasize the sex role stereotyping by encouraging children to know their capabilities, entrusted and values related to their Occupation. Counsellor should be posed to Schools to implement guidance student that will expose children to know themselves and work opportunities in their environment and nation as well as the new trends in the world of work.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY
Few suggestions are given for further research study.
• A study may be taken up covering students studying in Secondary Schools of the total five blocks of South Kamrup area of Assam to find out the Educational and Occupational aspiration and School Environment. • Besides the variables Educational Aspiration, Occupational Aspiration and School Environment, study can be taken up with some other variables like  Educational Aspiration, Occupational Aspiration and Home Environment  Institutional facility and Academic achievement  Effect of Examination anxiety on the Academic achievement  Depression and Academic achievement  Intelligence  Value dimension  Parental Encouragement and Career Expectation  Child rearing practice and emotional development etc.

CONCLUSION
The School environment is an important factor which helps in shaping the aspiration of the students. A teacher can create a simulative environment in the School and classroom so that the children can develop their aspiration. The role of the teacher enables the child to encourage, support and co-operate in directing and controlling his development of career. The Govt. has also a vital responsibility in looking after the existing conditions of the Schools and giving grant for making the School Infrastructure sound and attractive which can motivate the students.