The Hindu : New Delhi News : NCERT to introduce counselling courses

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

NCERT to introduce counselling courses

Staff Reporter

With the course also being thrown open to students of other SAARC countries, it is seen as a unique opportunity for acquiring a multi-cultural perspective.

NEW DELHI: : From taking up the right stream in higher secondary to scoring well in the final test and making new friends to looking cool, school life clearly is no longer a cake-walk for the country's young. And with lack of good counsellors only adding to the woes, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has finally decided to introduce short-term courses to train people who can act as guides and not just subject experts.

While a postgraduate diploma course in guidance and counselling for training professional counsellors for schools has been offered by the Council for over four decades, NCERT is now all set to offer a six-month course for teachers, educators and personnel from the State education departments and guidance agencies.

Aimed at fulfilling the need for trained personnel in the area and counter the growing practice of appointing untrained counselling people in schools, NCERT feels that the step would also give impetus to activities of State guidance agencies and units set up as a result of recommendations of the Mudaliar Education Commission in 1952-53 and thereafter by the Kothari Commission in 1964-65.

Also, the trained teachers and educators would be better equipped to teach and integrate guidance and counselling components in the teacher training curricula.

Of the total 35 seats available in the course, 30 per cent are reserved for candidates from outside India, while in the remaining seats, 15 and 7.5 per cent are reserved for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Caste candidates. Preference in admission would be given to teachers and other educational personnel deputed by the state governments.

With the course also being thrown open to students of other SAARC countries, it is seen as a unique opportunity for acquiring a multi-cultural perspective. The course will take off on September 15 and will be conducted by the Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations of Education (DEPFE). Details about the course are also available on the website at www.ncert.nic.in.

The last date for sending applications is July 15, 2005.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi

News Update

Stories in this Section