Stigma stops students from meeting counsellors

MUMBAI: The city schools are fast catching up with the western schools on employing counsellors. But when counsellors are available in abundance in schools, are

MUMBAI: The city schools are fast catching up with the western schools on employing counsellors. But when counsellors are available in abundance in schools, are students approaching them? A student-led survey found that even if the students need help, 28% of them do not want to meet counsellors while over 94% respondents admitted to depression, anxiety among others. Although Indian parents are more involved in their children’s lives, educators said working parents have a restricted child support system .

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Raj Mohindra, principal consultant and managing director of a private education consultancy, said counsellors do not do their job subtly. “Counsellors in India usually shout from the rooftop regarding their role. They cannot work without hinting that they are dealing with some behavioural, psychological disorders in the child.”

So students calling to their office end up getting labelled as ‘mad’. Mohindra said when he asked a student about the functions of a counsellor, she made a ‘mad’ gesture by rotation her finger beside her head and said, “Those who have such problems are treated by the counsellor.”

In contrast, he found that a counsellor in a New York school called himself a ‘student advocate leader’ and saw all the students in a class, so that no one was ridiculed by others.

But, a few city schools are also adopting such tactics. Utpal Shanghvi School, Juhu, lets students see the counsellor before or after school. “This way, students have the option of meeting the counsellor discreetly,” said Rakhi Mukherjee, school principal. Also, many schools depend on teachers for handling such issues but psychologists said mental health problems are not easy for a teacher to identify in a class of 70 to 80 students. Though, Harish Shetty, psychiatrist with Dr LH Hiranandani Foundation Hospital Powai, said the number of private schools appointing counsellors has increased by 500% in past five years, many schools still don’t have full-time counsellors due to lack of funds.