Organization of Guidance Services at Different Levels of Education

INTRODUCTION

-Immanuel Kant There are times when students may not understand what is being taught in the class. Sometimes, students fail to do well in examinations, suffer from lack of concentration and may not perform well in the academic sphere. These problems may also lead to the unhealthy development of the students and may hamper their growth in several ways. Therefore, it is imperative that students be assisted in overcoming and solving these problems. Guidance provided to students can be classified into the following kinds: Educational guidance, Vocational guidance and Personal guidance. Educational Guidance: It is concerned directly with the student or the pupil. Educational guidance is very important and an integral part of a student‘s life. The aim of educational guidance is to enable a student to adjust to the educational environment in an effective manner. Educational guidance enables students to coordinate with the school or college environment and also develop the necessary awareness and sensitivity that is required for the overall development. According to author Arthur A. Jones, ‗Educational guidance is concerned with assistance to be provided to the pupils which is expected for their adjustments in the schools, selection of curricula and school like.‘ To be able to provide the right kind of educational guidance, it is important that the guidance provider knows about the students, his interests, abilities and study habits. The objectives of educational guidance in the sphere of education are as follows: • To know about the academic progress of the students. • To enable the students get acquainted with the curriculum. • To identify students who are academically strong, backward, weak and creative. • To help the students get information about further education i.e. a level higher than their present level. • To identify the learning difficulties and disabilities of the students. • To help the students to overcome the problems they face in their educational environment at home as well as the educational institution. The need for educational guidance at the various levels of education can be attributed to the following: Diversified Courses: Education has now changed from including a simple course to several who are being taught only a single curriculum, educational guidance may not be required. Educational guidance is, thus, provided to students so that they can choose the right type of educational course. • Failure: Students may fail at a specific course or may not perform well academically. Educational guidance must be provided to these students so that they do not dropout from school and also to ensure that they do not develop depression. Such students often need the sympathy of their parents and teachers who can guide and motivate them to perform better at their studies. If educational guidance is missing in such cases, the students may tend to develop negative attitude towards their study material, their teachers as well as parents. • Unsatisfactory progress: Educational guidance is needed more by students who do not show satisfactory progress in academics and related activities. To ensure that such students perform well and do not develop a complex of being poor at a specific course, educational guidance must be provided by teachers and sometimes also experts. • Undesirable behavior: Sometimes, students develop undesirable behavior in a particular course. Such students may not be interested in the course and, thus, develop undesirable behavior. In doing so, the students may even become the cause of distraction for others in the class and, thus, hamper the learning process of others as well. Educational guidance may be provided to such students to alter their behavior and to ensure that they learn in an efficient and effective manner. • Individual differences: In a classroom, there are several students in a class who differ in their abilities as well as interests. Educational guidance enables students to choose a course according to their abilities. Educational guidance also ensures that the students perform to the best of their abilities in the selected course. • Adjustment of students: When entering school or college, many students have problems adjusting to the new environment. One of the main reasons for this maladjustment is that the students are not properly oriented towards the school or college. Educational guidance enables students to adjust to the school or college as because they are not treated properly when they enter their school or college. The aim of educational guidance in such cases is, thus, to ensure that the students can adjust to their environment. • Guiding gifted and academically backward students: Educational guidance is also essential for students who are gifted or perform academically well. Educational guidance in this case motivates such students to perform even better. For the academically backward students, educational guidance is essential because it enables them to perform better at academics. Educational guidance enables the students to cope up with academics according to their abilities. • Check dropouts: Educational guidance is essential to check the number of dropouts from school or college. Several times, students face numerous problems in their educational environment and tend to avoid going to school or college and may dropout. Educational guidance, if provided to such students can guide them to overcome and prevent failures and, thus, it prevents them from dropping out of school. Educational Guidance at the different Levels of Education: • Elementary stage: At the elementary stage, the student is just a beginner and, therefore, may not need any specialized educational guidance services. The aim of educational guidance at this stage is to ensure that the students develop a healthy and a positive outlook. Educational guidance at this stage prepares the students for the secondary stage of education. • Secondary stage: At the secondary level of education, educational guidance is mandatory for the students. It is essential for all schools to offer educational guidance services at this level. The main reason why educational guidance must be provided at this level is that the students can think and are aware of their surroundings and the environment. The aim of educational guidance at this level is to help students to select the right curriculum. Educational guidance is also required to motivate the students so that they can make progress in their studies in the right manner.

universities often need guidance as to which course to choose so that they can perform well in academics.

At the Indian School, the aim is not only to prepare the students academically but also at guiding them towards a rewarding and satisfying career. The school understands how imperative it is for students to identify their aptitudes, interests, career goals and aspirations in order to make well-informed decisions regarding their higher education. To help students in this task, the student counselor, Ms Sukhmeen Kaur (part of the school faculty) guides and counsels students in the field of higher studies. Additionally, the schools have also tied up with a university—a Singapore based organization that mentors students to ensure that they have multiple higher study options (both domestic and international) to choose from. The university provides a support system to the school counselor to manage all the senior students in a systematic manner. The students and the parents can interact with the team of experts at the university through an online system linked to the school‘s website to get the required counseling and guidance. Students are typically counseled in the following areas: • Students are counseled about the various career options available to them. • Counseling enables the students to finalize a course and a country of study which could be in another country as well (USA, UK, Canada, Singapore and other popular destinations). • It helps the students to prepare for the various tests. • It assists in interpreting the deadlines related to admissions and tests. • It provides guidance about scholarships. With the help of the university, the school also started the higher education support system in the academic year 2013–14. In this programme, several sessions were organized to guide the students on how to utilize the online support system and to create profiles, ask questions and seek the guidance of the counselors. A study was conducted to find out the status of guidance and counseling programme running in various Secondary and the Senior Secondary Schools under Directorate of Education, Delhi. In this study, a self- constructed questionnaire was given to every EVGC (Educational Vocational Guidance Counselors) appointed in the different schools. The aim was to get all the necessary information about the availability of various resources and the duties performed by the EVGs. The questionnaire also required the EVGs to tell what problems they faced in administering the programme and also about the effectiveness of guidance services provided by them. According to the results of the study, the EVGs said that they were provided with the necessary resources to perform their duties and also the services they offered were effective in spite of the fact that they had shortage of time and were over-burdened with work. The EVGs tried to provide guidance and counseling to maximum number of students they could reach out to. The study also concluded that that the guidance and counseling services need to be improved so that maximum students could be benefited.. Vocational Guidance: This entails providing assistance to students so that they can opt for the right vocation or career. Vocational guidance helps students to make decisions related to future career plans. Vocational guidance also enables the students to adjust to the vocational environment. According to the authors of An Introduction to Guidance, Lester. D. Crow and Alice Crow, ‗Vocational guidance usually is interpreted as the assistance given to the learners to choose, prepare for and progress in an occupation.‘ According to Professor Emeritus of Education, University of Michigan, G. E. Myers, ‗Vocational guidance is the process of assisting the individual to do for himself certain definite things pertaining to his vocation.‘ The objectives of vocational guidance for students include the following: • To help students to get the right information about all aspects of the vocation of their interest. • To help students understand their own abilities and skills and to help them fit these to their chosen vocation. • To help students develop an attitude towards work. • To teach students the importance of cooperation and its necessity to adjust in a group with other co-workers. • To assist students to critically analyze the various vocations they can opt for to take the right decision. The need of vocational guidance: • Choosing the right profession: When a person chooses the wrong profession, he cannot succeed in it, which eventually leads to economic as well as psychological loss. Therefore, vocational guidance must be provided so that the right profession can be chosen for economic as well as personal satisfaction. • Personal and social values: Vocational guidance has with it associated several personal and social values. Right vocational guidance helps to achieve happiness of the student, professional as well as personal development and is also helpful in building social relationships. • Maximum utilization of human potentialities: Vocational guidance motivates workers to perform better and thereby coerces them to use their potentialities to the best extent. This leads to personal as well as professional satisfaction. Vocational guidance at different levels of education: • Elementary level: At the elementary level, not much formal vocational guidance is needed by the students. In fact, at this level the teacher can act as a guide and help the students to develop respect for work and develop a positive attitude towards work. The teacher can help the students to learn how to use hands, develop eye-hand coordination, encourage the students to do neat and systematic work and also develop coordination among themselves. • Secondary level: At the secondary level of education, vocational guidance can be provided to students to develop familiarity with the nature of work and make the right choice. It also helps the child to identify his abilities so that the right career choice can be made at a later stage. • Higher level: At the college level of education, formal vocational guidance must be provided to the students. Vocational guidance aims at helping students to relate their studies to the vocation they may choose later. Vocational guidance can also be used to help the college students to analyse the various career options they have

The objectives of the study include the following: • To study the existing system of vocational guidance services in various secondary schools. • To study the dissemination of information concerning various occupations. • To study the availability of counseling services. • To compare the existing systems of vocational guidance services in the various secondary schools. The study was conducted in the metropolitan city of Mumbai. The educational institutions included were Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and School Service Commission (SSC) aided and unaided schools. For the study, the researcher listed down the assistant officer for vocational guidance and counseling, eighteen principals, 120 teachers and 600 students from six schools each of ICSE, CBSE and three schools each from School Service Commission (SSC) aided and unaided schools. The data required to be collected was from the following areas: (a) Assistant officer for Vocational Guidance and Counseling IVGS, Mumbai (b) Principals of ICSE, CBSE and SSC Schools (c) Teachers of ICSE, CBSE and SSC Schools (d) Students of ICSE, CBSE and SSC Schools Questionnaire and interview schedule was the most appropriate data gathering device. The questionnaire was aimed at gathering information from the teacher and students about the existing system of vocational guidance services in the various secondary schools. The tool consists of close ended questions to teachers and students. The interview method of data collection has a great deal in common with the questionnaire method. Data was collected from assistant officer of

The results: According to the analysis of the answers of the questionnaire and the interviews, it was concluded that vocational guidance has a challenging role to play in every developing economy. The word of work is in a state of continuous change. Some careers are disappearing while new and alternative careers are coming to the fore. Life has become more complex. Innumerable problems exist within the social context and one‘s occupation has become increasingly prestigious. Vocational guidance is assuming responsibility in every direction selection of educational courses, profitable occupations, jobs, placement, higher level of education, training, improvement of study skills, personal adjustment, even identifying gifted and backward students and helping them to achieve the maximum. It is imperative to match the changing values of an individual with a new set of career possibilities, to assess the needs of the labour market and match them with the need of the individual. A vocational guidance service is highly significant due to the following reasons: • Students get greater insight into the various new occupations and careers and build true self-concept and measure self -appraisal in the job. • It enables teachers to disseminate information easily. • Principals to help in preparing the student community to contribute better. • Society and nation-building— vocational guidance aims at efficient use of manpower and greater economy in the execution of work in industry, business and government offices.

At the Indian School, the faculty are conscious that they are responsible for not only teaching the students but also prepare them for the next stage in life especially, regarding their career. The faculty at the Indian School helps the students to prepare for higher academic education at a college or university in India as well as abroad. The faculty also guides the students about various career options like services, business and industry or even in sports, media, performing and fine arts. Vocational guidance forms an integral part of the school. Self- assessment is encouraged from an early stage and is now a page in their report card. The Discovery learning project is programmed to do just that. Over the years, students learn to identify and understand their own inclinations and aspirations our teachers and in-house counselors work in close coordination with both the students and their parents. Career advice is given through the Annual Career Meets held in September each year, where talks are arranged with senior professionals from trade and industry. The talks are aimed at increasing awareness of specific careers and typical qualities and educational inputs sought by organizations when recruiting young people. Attempts are also being made to coach students in practicing on appearing for interviews, preparing presentations, writing CVs and covering letters. Such guidance, it is felt, would be invaluable in helping the student to chart out a map for life whether it is for higher education in a university overseas or preparing for a vocation. The school is also working on a scheme to send students of class XII on Internship programmes during the summer vacations to multinational companies, banks, law firms, retail outlets to acquire first-hand work experience.

The youth of India faces a major problem in terms of unemployment and underemployment. The main cause of these problems is that a lot of students dropout from school and do not receive proper education. Many students from low income groups have to leave their schooling to support their family. Also, the youth does not have the required information about the job market and also lack the basic skills that most employers seek in their employees. Most young people are also unaware of the opportunities that are available to them and indulge in daily wages jobs leading to underemployment.

The Pratham Institute was set-up in 2005 with the aim of providing practical skills to the young people. The institute offers education and vocational training and helps the youth develop skills to get the necessary employment in industry and to foster entrepreneurship. The objectives of the institute are as follows: • The institute aims to provide training to youth from economically weaker sections. The training is vocational training and helps the youth to find the necessary job opportunities and get a job that supports them in every way. vocations. • The institute prepares the youth to meet the demands of the labour and the industrial market. • The institute also provides mentorship and financial support to the youth to start their own businesses.

The Pratham Institute aims to address India's growing demand for skilled manpower in the following three ways:

At the PACE centres, industry specific programmes are provided. These programmes help the youth to prepare for the following industries— hospitality, construction, bedside assistance, and automotive. The curriculum for these programmes has been developed in collaboration with leading corporations like the Taj Group of Industries, Larsen and Toubro and Tata. The course is so designed that the students can get theoretical as well as practical training on how to work in these industries.For these programmes, students are usually selected from rural areas, urban slums and minority communities. These students are trained for a period of three months. The students are trained in fields where their interest lies. In other words, the criterion is not based on the educational or academic achievements of the students. At the end of the course or even during the course of the programme, the students are even offered job opportunities.

The Pratham Institute also runs an entrepreneurship programme. The programme is meant for the youth and especially women who wish to set-up their own businesses. The institute selects talented and interested youth and trains them in the required manner and also mentors them as to how to begin a business and achieve success in it. The institute has two programmes operational— the Beauty Entrepreneurship Programme and Tailoring Entrepreneurship Programme.

The principle of guidance and counseling in schools is to make progress in academic achievement, increase acquisitions and application of conflict resolution, promote affirmative study attitudes and behavior and reduce school dropouts of the children. Guidance and Counseling is the process which helps to assist students and teachers in making available desirable qualifications and skills rather than achieving the goals of educational programs. So it is important to have right direction for putting efforts to achieve desirable goals and to make bright future because we all know that time runs and it is invaluable. If the collective efforts of the teacher and students fails somewhere that means there was lack of analyzing proper direction according to the dexterity of the student and it may cause irreparable loss so sometime it became important to seek guidance of Expert Counselors.

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