A successful career is the culmination of proper guidance and counselling during the formative years of an individual’s life. Negligence during adolescence can have severe consequences for young people. It is crucial for parents, teachers, and other stakeholders to be acutely aware of the sensitivity and susceptibility of adolescents.
Paragraph 12.9 of the National Education Policy (NEP) emphasizes that students are the primary stakeholders in the education system. A vibrant campus life is essential for a high-quality teaching-learning process. The NEP envisions providing students with ample opportunities to participate in school activities and community service projects, offering them insights into real life and their untapped potential.
The NEP mandates the establishment of robust guidance and counselling mechanisms in every school to assist students and parents. These counselling cells are tasked with implementing a system to address students’ aspirations, inclinations, and tendencies. Additionally, they assess weaknesses, offer remedies for students’ perversions, handle stress and emotional adjustments, and provide necessary support.
According to Shertzer and Stone in their book “Fundamentals of Guidance and Counselling,” counseling is an interactive process that facilitates a meaningful understanding of oneself and the environment, leading to the establishment or clarification of goals and values for future behavior. Hence, the primary role of the Guidance and Counselling cell in schools is to recognize, identify, and nurture each student’s unique capabilities. This is achieved by sensitizing teachers and parents to promote holistic development in both academic and non-academic spheres.
Teachers play a vital role in shaping students’ professional and personal growth trajectories. They can facilitate students’ success and productive lives by developing the right skills through guidance and counselling. The NEP emphasizes training teachers to become career counsellors and mentors. The fundamental premise of the NEP 2020 is to broaden the scope of education and align it with modern ideas of the 21st century. In this endeavour, teachers act as the driving force, guiding students according to their talents and choices. Schools need well-established career counselling cells to offer advice and support to students. Proficient teachers can serve as reliable counsellors, helping students navigate their learning journey.
Guidance and counselling are processes that assist individuals in discovering and developing their educational, vocational, and psychological potential to achieve an optimal level of personal happiness and social usefulness. It is essential to differentiate between guidance, a broad term that can be utilized for various issues, and counselling, a professional service provided to a student facing a specific problem and seeking help to overcome it.
The NEP underscores the importance of these services at various stages of the teaching-learning process. School counselling cells must create awareness among students, parents, and teachers regarding the key components of the NEP, such as credit-based learning systems, academic banks of credits, vocational and skill-based courses. These counselling cells, handled by experts in sociology, psychology, and education, will play a pivotal role in implementing the NEP’s goals.
The NEP 2020 recognizes the vital role of guidance and counselling in education. Teachers, equipped with the knowledge of individual differences and emotional intelligence, can help students build meaningful relationships, succeed academically, and achieve their career goals. Professional guidance and counselling are indispensable tools that bridge the gap between individuals and the right approach to challenges. The NEP’s emphasis on these services signifies a significant step toward creating a more efficient and productive human resource pool in the country.
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Imtiyaz Rasool Ganai