Counseling- Need for Present Day Students of Colleges and Schools

In the times of hopelessness and uncertainty, humans look to the sky, trying to attain peace of mind. His quiescent tears, with complete pandemonium, mourn to seek answers to all his questions. His legs are caught in a dilemma, standing at the road bifurcation where each path leads him to different destinations. Will his mind listen to his instinct or the talks of his neighbours and relatives? Some who did the latter sets his journey on the beaten road, joining the rat race. The decision he took that day might land him in a comfort zone at the climax but his inner voice keeps whispering, “You were born to be somebody, aren’t you?”

The career he opted for may kindle a spark on the faces of his parents and closer ones but to him? What really matters to him is the feeling of completeness- the true result to the efforts he made all this time. At the end of his life story, he must not regret the decision he made under the pressure of reality or solicit the ultimate entity to grant a wish to change his timeline.

Are you one among those peers who are taking one step further in their lives? Do you need a foresight on the scope of the career you wish to pursue? If you fit right in all these, then you require career counseling, the art of sculpting your mind to make a better decision. Counseling and guidance are emerging as a saviour to the people who are entangled in a struggle- maybe with their decisions, actions or feelings. It is a need of an hour for students in schools and colleges.

Guidance and counseling are vital in all walks of life and they begin from the root of life- education. Counseling is not a new concept to the age-old society and can be seen in different forms- parents counsel their children in their home and teachers counsel their students in school. But not all are inclined to the interests of each child. For instance, an engineer would recommend engineering to the other, keeping in mind the features of a particular field. Proper counseling ensures that it prepares a foundation for the person’s insight, based on their interests and aptitude.

Types of guidance and counseling programs:

Eric Fromm once quoted, “Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve and from which he cannot escape.” Young learners are guided and counselled under the following ways for their betterment:

1.     Educational guidance

·       Assist students in their choices related to the courses and school curriculum.

·       Recognize their strengths and weakness in each subject and analyzing remedy methods that suit their learning path.

·       Create a perfect timetable to manage their time efficiently in academics and extra-curricular activities for self-enrichment.

2.     Vocational guidance

·       Help students to choose an occupation that is aligned according to their calibre and inborn talents.

·       Provide an individual with a thorough understanding of general and specific capacities in the field they are interested in.

3.      Psychological guidance

·         Examine the mental potentialities of an individual such as intelligence, emotional sensitivities and aptitude levels. These tests are done to know whether a person is strong enough either in IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient). By knowing these, a child could realise their responsibility in society as future citizens.

·         Ensure better mental health and guiding peers to tackle the psychological impacts they encounter in their life.

4.      Social guidance

·         Develop social characteristic such as discipline, social responsibility, life philosophy and moral values among children to encourage them in making contributions to the growth of society.

·         Guide young ones to know the social issues that people face in their lives and boosting them to find solutions to make society a better place to live.

5.      Personal guidance

·         Assist the individual to adjust to the social and psychological environment and help them in solving emotional and psychological problems they are going through.

·         Help children in promoting both their physical and mental health.

The need for guidance and counseling

The system of advising and guiding is of utmost importance among young learners to bring in overall personality development. It enables students to choose the right options, take the right path and reach the right destination under the guidance of trusted ones.

The following are the benefits gained by students in effective guidance and counseling system:

·         Students undergoing adolescence are hit-hard by many difficulties such as loneliness, lack of socialization and inferiority complex. Apart from social problems, some may perform poorly in academics due to lack of concentration. Through these sessions, students can develop problem-solving skills which help them in dealing with psychological problems.

·         Students must learn to use possible opportunities and resources to a greater extent. Guidance and counseling promote maximum utilization of human resources, providing the development of an individual and society.

·         Guidance must begin from the early stages of schooling. The goal of the guidance is to make students self-directing and diplomatic- the art of negotiation and finer adjustment to situations.

·         Students are equipped with the necessary skills to tackle any problem independently. They are trained in such a way that children find it convenient to know what and how to do a particular activity in the best way.

·         Children who are addicted to social media and drugs and those who are suffering from personal problems can openly speak about their feelings to the counsellor. A counsellor, being a human can understand what the counselee is going through and they have the capability to make their counselee perfectly normal.

·         Apart from these guidance and counseling programs also look for career development. They prepare the students to face the challenges in the outside world, making them competent for future success.

·         In career counseling, students are given the latest trends in pursuing a career. This gives a divergent view on the professionalism and how real-life application-oriented job opportunities are becoming the need of the day.

Improving guidance and counseling services in colleges

The following could be done by university authorities to make their students aware of guidance and counseling services:

·         Trained and talented counsellors must be recruited in each college and they must be given the power to implement beneficial programmes in collaboration with administrators, staff members, parents and students.

·         Various developmental guidance and counseling programmes should be implemented in colleges frequently.

·         College authorities should arrange various programmes on personality development, decision making and leadership qualities. Students are benefitted by gaining confidence and fostering aptitude.

·         Counseling programmes should provide opportunities to broaden occupational awareness among the students.

Nobody is born self-adequate and no human attains self-sufficiency at any stage of their lifetime. From primary to university level education, counseling is the key to making a proper decision. The current education system has not forgotten to judge a student based on quantitative learning and grading sheet. Young minds require organized and comprehensive counseling that not only helps them in creating an identity in society but make them stand for the goodwill of society.

Are you a parent who firmly believes that good grades land your child to a promising engineering or medical college, even now?

Not every child land in the same career avenue and each child possess unique interests and abilities. Haven’t you realised that your child’s progress card has blanketed an artist inside your child? You may be busy handling your work schedules and sometimes, you may not know your child’s calibre completely. Career counseling helps children choose a career that is sync with their skills. With proper career counseling, children choose the right destination which they always wished for. In the growing era of advanced technology and endless opportunities, a decision made in thoughtlessness or in the absence of a proper approach could be disastrous. Every child must be sculpted in such a way that they can tackle any issue at ease and can make a decision with the knowledge of the consequences and this necessitates the need of counseling in schools and colleges at the present. Are you trying to find a helping hand that could assist you in taking any decision right now? And that is where counseling comes in.

Voice of Ms. Sanjuda. S, RD International School, Erode, India. ,  sanjuda.maniyan@gmail.com  through Global Learners Academy of Development.

Global Learners Academy of Development feels responsible to rightly guide the students at times of depression through suitable counseling. Contact us for all your counseling needs.

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