THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A change in the term counsellor to guidance teacher or mentor has been mooted in a bid to strengthen the role of school counsellors and rightly position them in a school atmosphere.A consultative meeting on school counselling that was held here on Thursday organised by the Kerala Social Security Mission and undertaken by the UNICEF and State Government touched upon the various issues in the school counselling ahead of preparing a new strategy to strengthen them. In the changing scenario, where sexual and mental abuse cases against students are on the rise, the role of counsellors needs to be re-examined, the meeting opined.Mediated by Lida Jacob, the meeting threw light on the hitherto un-addressed issues related to school counselling. The participants, which included officials from the social welfare, health, education, LSG, representatives of various NGOs engaged in child development and experts in the field, were unanimous on the need for a systematic training for counsellors in the state.A general concern raised by the meeting was the neglect faced by counsellors in a school atmosphere. Though they play a significant role, their part is often undermined. Counsellors should be seen at par with teachers, their pay should be decent, their training should be planned, infrastructure should be provided in schools to accommodate their service and basically there should be an accreditation/screening process to recruit them, the meeting opined.Experts from Childline, Child Development Centre and other NGOs were of the opinion that need-based training should be planned. Peer group support for counselling, self-help groups in schools (among students), a proper evaluation and monitoring of the counselling system, the integration of various agencies involved in school counselling, age-appropriate classes, support systems for counsellors (which could be provided by local bodies) and the need to bring private (aided/unaided/CBSE) schools under the mandatory provision of providing counselling to students were aired at the meeting.“There are hundreds of protected teachers who are paid remuneration by the state but are out of schools with lot of time to spare. We could give them training and make use of their service for the counselling programme,” said Lida Jacob.“The peer support system should be implemented under strict supervision,” said M K C Nair, director of Child Development Centre who also threw light on the desirable changes in the role of school counsellors. Lida Jacob said that the recommendations would be submitted to the State Government so that official circulars could be issued for its implementation.Though the consultative meeting was funded by UNICEF, it is up to the State Government to carry forward the strengthening of the school counselling system. The meeting selected a core committee to take forward the discussions in further sessions and to consider the options for convergence before them. The sessions would be held before December 20 and a report prepared on its basis would be submitted to the government soon after.
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