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Ludhiana teachers split over career counselling programme
The state education department had recently released the calendar of activities to be conducted by the school authorities under the guidance and career counselling programme
The educators are divided over the relevance and implementation of activities at the grass root level as per the calender of state education department.
The state education department had recently released the calendar of activities to be conducted by the school authorities under the guidance and career counselling programme.
The programme is aimed at providing academic and psychological support to the students. For this, the schools have appointed a teaching staff member as a counsellor who is in charge of guiding students on different career options. The students could also reach out to them for personal issues as well.
However, some educators believed the implementation of the programme is not up to the mark. A Senior Senior Secondary School teacher said, “The success entirely depends upon the implementation of a programme. The recently released calendar of activities is different from the previous years. This could have been a lot better as the list of activities do not matter, as long as the schools do not implement it the right way.”
Another teacher said the institutions consider the programme as an additional responsibility. Once or twice a month, a table and few banners are set up and students are briefed about the career opportunities. But, the psychological support is not available.
A teacher who used to be a counsellor during his previous posting emphasised on the negligence of school heads towards the sensitivity of the programme. “Principals appoint a counsellor as per their choice. The teachers should voluntarily decide rather than it is being imposed upon them, then the motive of programme would be justified.”
A Government School Teachers Union member, Sanjiv Kumar said, “Teachers who are given this charge should not be provided with any additional responsibility. Along with guiding the students on different streams or career options, there are a number of students dealing with complex personal issues. There should be a dedicated counsellor in the schools for the whole year,” the member added.
“The prescribed committee has been formed in the school. The guidance corner has been updated with material display. An activity register is maintained by the school counsellor,” said GSSS Shahpur principal Davinder Singh Chhina. The programme with proper implementation has been of great help to the students for their personal and professional growth, he added.
Due to lack of space, many schools do not have rooms for allotment to a counsellor. District education officer (secondary) Harjinder Singh said the space is an issue. “But, this should not affect the aim of the programme. School heads must ensure the student counsellor should not be forced to achieve the aim of the programme.”
