Participants and officials during the panel discussion on school counselling program in Nagaland was organized by Guidance and Counselling Cell, SCERT on December 2.
Kohima, December 2 (MExN): A panel discussion on school counselling program in Nagaland was organized by Guidance and Counselling Cell, SCERT at SIEMAT Building, SCERT Kohima on December 2.
Shanavas C, IAS, Principal Director, School Education, Vipralhou Kesiezie Former Director, SCERT, Lima Longkumer, Joint Director, SCERT and Kelhikha Kenye, Deputy Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Nagaland were the panelists of the discussion.
The primary objective of the discussion was to provide an opportunity for the counselling trainees of the nine month diploma in school counselling to provide an opportunity to have a direct interaction with the school education authorities, Dr Zavise Rume, Professor & Head, Guidance & Counselling Cell, SCERT, stated in a press release. In the introduction, Dr Zavise Rume, who chaired the programme expressed the need for quality training in school counselling and expressed his happiness for SCERT Nagaland being the first in the whole country to introduce the Diploma Course in School Counselling since 2018. He appealed the State Government to increase the duration of the course to one year.
Shanavas expressed the need to improve the quality of government school education through counseling intervention. He expressed the need for the counselors to be aware of the student’s mental health status specifically during the post pandemic period. He assured the participants to issue a clear-cut direction to all the school heads for effective implementation of counseling in schools. He assured to sponsor 10 days orientation on school counselling for the teachers under a NECTOR project.
He directed the SCERT to send a proposal for providing substitute teachers for those teachers undergoing the 9 month diploma in school counselling.
Vipralhou Kesiezie expressed the need for professionally trained regular counselors in schools and he expressed that it was his dream to introduce a diploma course in school counselling, and this present course is a fulfillment of his dream.
Kelhikha Kenye said that the Ministry of Education, Government of India has acknowledged the 9 month diploma in school counselling introduced by SCERT Nagaland since 2018 for the first time in India. He felt that teachers must counsel one another before counseling others. He said that massive survey will be conducted to assess the reading, writing and numeracy of children in schools and explore the necessary interventions.
Lima Longkumer emphasized the need for life ethics and emotional well being of children in education and to tackle this, it is the work of the counselors.
