Need For Counselling

In the 10+2+ pattern of education introduced in the year 1978, after completing 10 years of general education at the secondary level, the student has many choices for selection. Either he can enter into world of work or select a vocational course or opt for higher level of academic courses of study through higher secondary. At this adolescent period, the student must know about his capacities, potentials, job opportunities after higher studies, about the expenses towards higher education, availability of scholarships and the places of admission, etc. He needs professional guidance for right selection of coursesof study and personal guidance for his adjustment problems.

Even though the present younger generation has many educated adults for assistance, some may be reluctant to approach and in some families the parents may be uneducated. If the parents and elders at home are busy with their work, earning their bread and comforts, the adolescents are left alone without any help and in some cases without love and affection for which they long for. They face heterosexual problems, which they cannot discuss with parents. Apart from these problems, the adolescents do not know the method of studying, method of preparing for the examinations, leisure time management, adjusting with siblings at home, adjusting with peer group members and parents. Many students stay in hostels for acquiring higher education. In some cases even at the primary and secondary level they are put in residential schools.  

All these types of students require guidance. Guidance is needed not only for the problem adolescent but also for the gifted student. Guidance is needed to check the dropouts from school, to minimise the incidence of indiscipline. As most of the higher secondary .schcols are co-education schools, the heterosexual adjustment and friendship need guidance. For the adolescents who lack a sense of direction, purpose and a sense of fulfilment, guidance needs to be made a regular and continuous activity. In educational institutions for optimum individual, social and national development guidance and counselling must form part of education.

A survey was conducted by the All India Educational and Vocational Guidance Association (1960-61) for gauging college students' needs. Three thousand students from seventeen Indian universities responded. The survey revealed students' felt needs. Eleven problems were marked by more than 50% of the respondents. They were,

1)        I cannot do as well in my studies as other people expect me to do.

2)        I do not know enough about the qualifications needed for different kinds of work or careers.

3)        I worry too much about what my future will be after I have finished my studies.

4)        Even though I force myself, my attention will not remain on my assignments long enough to finish them.

5)        I do not know how to make friends among the opposite sex.

6)        I do not have sufficient information about matters on sex.

7)        I do not know enough about my aptitudes and abilities for different kinds of work or careers.

8)        It is difficult for me to get the books I need for study.

9)        I cannot read fast enough to complete my studies in time.

10)    I do not know proper methods of study.

11)    I have more difficulty in forgetting my mistakes than I believe I should have.

The survey result reveals that even the college students lack knowledge about the occupational world, unable to make clear decisions, lack of knowledge of methods of study, confused in making heterosexual relationships. Guidance thus assumes more responsibility for every student in every direction. The different directions where guidanceis needed are:

 

1.        Vocation

 Every vocation requires certain educational and professional qualifications and preparation. So for the students to succeed in any field, from selection to progress, guidance is needed.

2.        Avocation

The filling up of vacant hours of the students is one of the important tasks of education. They should be helped in leisure time management. Directions are needed in choosing hobbies, co-curricular activities, games and cultural programmes so that the out of classroom hours is also a means of development.

3.        Social

 As the students in schools come from heterogenous, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds, the students should be guided in social behaviour like making friends, becoming leaders in their own groups and for proper social adjustment.

4.        Moral

Telling lies, indulging in antisocial acts, having fascinated by heterosexual relationships, and trying to dodge the adults in family and also indisciplined behaviour in school can be avoided by guidance.

5.        Health

Students must be aware of good food habits and ways of improving their physique. Dieting to become thin, obesity and the consequences must be known to the students; specially to. Adolescent girls who are going to be the mothers of next generation. Even the disabled students need guidance care.

6.        Personal

Adolescents have problems related to themselves, their parents, family, peer group members and teachers. These may be jealousy among siblings, domination of elders, maltreatment of children, lack of a sense of being wanted and belongingness. These unhappy situations disturb the mental equilibrium of adolescents which results in poor academic achievement.

7.        Education

Underachievement, failures in examinations, unsatisfactory involvement in academic work, drop out from schools are some of the educational problems for the adolescents. Even the choice of subjects and courses offered under higher education, scholarships available are not known to all the students completely. So guidance and counseling is needed to solve these types of problems.

8.        Marital

The suitable age for marital life for girls has been fixed as twenty one, but all the parents are not aware of the physical and mental maturity of their daughters. In Indian villages even before finishing standard ten, the girls are married. So to have a proper understanding of family life, adjustment in the family with elders and to have a clear knowledge of reproductive systems, guidance is needed.

Apart from the above mentioned fields of guidance, in the present system of education, guidance and counselling is needed to motivate the youth for self-employment, to help the adolescents establish proper identity. Guidance is also needed to check the wastage of student time and money and also huge state expenditure on education. To pursue higher education, youth migrate from rural areas to urban areas and from our country to foreign countries. Unless this migration is checked by guidance and counselling, the rural talent and our national talent will become unproductive. Guidance is also needed to prevent social damage by the destructive activities of youth.

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