SCHOOL COUNSELOR : A GROWING NEED
Gone are the days when the students
used to come to the school for their
education from far flung areas crossing
miles together on foot and returns in the
afternoon in the same way. Lack of
means of transport, good road, shortage
of school and above all zeal to read and
write pushed the boys and girls to
school by crossing hurdles. Whatsoever
the number of students or whatsoever
the quality of result, students used to
visit schools despite of majority of them
turned to drop outs. The teacher was
the lord for them and nobody; even the
parents also were not ready to hear any
complaint against teachers. The respect
for the Guru was the mountain top high
and the social status of a teacher very
noble.
Lack of modern amenities like TV,
computer & internet, and also lack of
communication prevented the students
many times from behavioral disorder
and serious juvenile delinquency.
The days are completely changed now.
Students are more generous, aggressive,
sensitive, arrogant, petulant and
insubordinate. Their intelligence
quotient is far higher than those of few
decades back. The world is more
competitive, overcrowded and more
approachable.
Hence the students are to be dealt with
more care than ever before. Parents and
teachers are not the sufficiently sound
handler of the students of this era
especially at the time of psychological
crisis. Here comes the need of a
Counselor.
A counselor is a person to attend the
problem of any one ( say, teen age),
offers a patient hearing, studies the
problem and suggest a solution to the
problem. Many times he has to solve a
student’s problem even with out the
knowledge of the student concern. He is
a professional. The working zone of a
counselor is unlimited. He guides one to
confront the sadness emanating at the
death of loved ones or to exhilarate at
the success of fellow competitors.
Due to the tremendous work pressure at
the school and out of the school, the
mental condition of the students is
really pathetic as they are heavily
crowded with workload. At the same
time the aspiration of the parents are
now all time high and they are seemed
to be in a under sea stream competition
on their expectations from their
children. The hobbies and field of
interest of students is jeopardized
beneath the blanket of desires of the
parents. No amount of marks is
sufficient to sustain in the competition.
No working hours is seemed to be
adequate today. The web of
competition has occupied the whole
earth and snatched away the social
interaction & mental peace of people.
But nobody can change the situation.
Parents are confused, students are
frustrated and educators are helpless.
Many times counseling is needed for the
parents also. A counselor assists a
person with familial, educational,
health, and personal problems. He is the
right person to explain a crisis in a
logical, technical and convincing way
and to offer an amicable solution to that.
A counselor guides an overloaded
student how to deal with heavy work
load and how to enjoy the crammed
working hours. He counsels a slow
learner or inattentive student about how
to proceed in life with a specific goal
and how & why to work hard to fulfill
the set goal.
Due to easy approachability of modern
amenities like MMS, internet and also
inclusion of human anatomical topics
like reproductive system, etc in the text
book, students are more easily
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attracted to the volatile world which
may ruin the child’s future and career.
No one can deny the need of amenities
to any one but the teaching of use of the
same is more essential. The budding
adolescents are needed to be properly
guided in order to prevent them from
going in a wrong direction.
A counselor interacts with the students
collectively in a class as well as
individually to know the difficulties of
him. He studies and carries out research
about the problems of whole class or an
individual, designs solutions and
confers it to the patient.
As the delinquency of students is in an
enlarging way, substance abuse is
increasing rapidly, behavioral and
psychological is attitude declining day
by day -the need of counselor is an
essential criterion for every school.
In primary classes, a counselor observes
the adaptability of a student in the
environment of the school. He observes
the way the student is mixing up with
peer groups and behaving with them. He
also observes the understanding
competency of the student and suggests
the necessary guidelines to the teachers
and parents. The role of the Art teacher
in the film ‘Tare jamin par’ is nothing
but a counselor’s. A small boy or girl at
the age of 4 to 10 years may face many
critical physical, mental or
psychological problems / disorders
which need to be fostered
professionally. Only a qualified and
experienced counselor can do this job
better.
The problem of the students is highest at
their teen age. Due to the anatomical
and biological changes, they under go
vigorous pressure. Many times they
behave in a disorderly manner. The
problems of Adolescent students can be
categorized into two basic divisions.
Firstly, the students who are good in
studies, sincere, silent and introvert.
They are most sensitive and due to over
burden they may take any serious steps
including committing suicide. Such
types of students need constant
counseling for advancement of their
career. They are taught by a counselor
the ways of easy handling of pressure
stress and trauma. It has been observed
that under proper counseling, such
students show wonderful result in any
field. But if not attended properly their
action may lead to serious or even fatal
consequences.
The second category includes the
students who are diverted from their
study, involved in substance abuse and
are patient of behavioral disorder. It is a
very tough job and a professional and
experienced counselor can only
effectively tackle such students. These
type of students are found to be
involved in eve teasing, copying in
exam, addiction to drugs,
insubordination and many such types of
felony. Continuous and planned
counseling can only be the solution to
this kind of problem. Many times the
friend circle is the source of diversion of
a student. It is worth noting that
blaming others’ sons or daughters’ is the
easiest thing in this regard but the same
is not the solution of the problem. A
counselor in and out of the school
emphasizes the source and potential of
the cause, analyze the symptoms,
explore the available solutions and
offers them very carefully to the victim.
Hence, it is the utmost necessity
for every school to appoint a counselor
for the enhancement of academic result,
development of behavioral attitude,
inculcation of dedication and above all
to teach the students the ability to accept
success and failure at the same positive
spirit. ( The writer is a teacher of
Kendriya Vidyalaya IIT Guwahati)
BY : N.D.SARMAH
TEACHER
KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA IIT,
GUWAHATI
PH : 94354 01666
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