Taj Pabari is a 17-year-old high school student attending Brisbane’s John Paul College who has absolutely no aspiration study at university.

But he’s also chief executive of his own tech start-up, Fiftysix Creations, and spends his free time between tennis, martial arts, and travelling. And in today’s Australia, when more young people than ever before have enrolled at university, Pabari said more effort needs to go into helping them decide whether or not higher education is really for them. This begins with reforming the role of careers advisors and school counsellors, he said.

“Wouldn’t it be great if [school] counsellors asked: ‘what are your passions, your hopes for the future, what do you love doing?” Pabari told a roundtable hosted by multinational education publisher Pearson. “At the moment, any career advice tends to be based solely on job prospects. The whole idea of [school] counselling needs to be redefined and expanded.”

Pearson recently sponsored the No Mind Left Behind report from the McKell Institute. Among the recommendations was reforming school career-guidance services and more collaboration between industry and university.

David Barnett, managing director of Pearson Asia-Pacific, said Pabari’s story should be a wake-up call for universities.