I quite remember my days in Bishop Herman College; very frustrated and confused about which programme I should study. Science and arts came to mind, business was not an option because I wanted to either be a medical doctor or a lawyer.
Obviously, it appears when I needed guidance and counseling officer badly, there was none. I kept swinging like the pendulum until I found my feet very late in life.
Last month my phones were blinking almost every 10 minutes. Make no mistakes!These calls were not coming from friends! But from desperate parents, guardians and students who were in my state back in secondary school; searching for what their wards could study and to also check on theprospects of such programmes. Then I realised that our counselling units are either failing us or not doing enough. Our college counseling efforts begin in our students’ freshman year. In both the freshman and sophomore years, we provide initial guidance to students and their families through evening information sessions, print materials and classroom visits. These first years serve to bring awareness and encouragement to our students.
Preparing students for their future roles in the world of work has become increasingly important phenomenon in the world as a result of changes taking place in the workplace. The challenge is to prepare students to enter and be competitive in a world-class workforce. Additionally, parents strongly feel that their wards should be equipped to be contributors to society and have the opportunity to live a satisfying, productive life. This means that, for students to be prepared to meet such challenges of the changing workplace, career development must be a priority. The need for counseling therefore cannot be swept under the carpet.
Parsons (1909), observed that, “we guide our boys and girls to some extent through school, then drop them into this complex world to sink or swim as the case may be.
Yet there is no part of life where the need for guidance is more emphatic than in the transition from school to work”. The building of a career is quite as difficult a problem as the building of a house, yet few ever sit down with pencil and paper, with expert information and counsel, to plan a working career and deal with the life problem scientifically, as they would deal with the problem of building a house; taking the advice of an architect to help them. It is in this vain that the ministry of Education incorporated guidance and counseling services into the schools curricular.
In almost all secondary schools, colleges of education, polytechnics and universities, District Education Offices have some form of counseling units. I am therefore amazed as to why many parents appear to be in a limbo in terms of what their wards should study as they progress.
It makes sense then to conclude that school guidance program activities have failed woefully! And the earlier we do some urgent about it the better.
Helping facilitate the career development of students must be a priority for school guidance programs and educational programs.
One goal of career development activities is to facilitate career decision making and help students learn the process of making career decisions. Given the downsizings, layoffs, and career transitions, knowing and being able to apply effective career decision making is a valuable life skill.
Guidance and counsellingprogrammes should be implemented to positively impact student career development. Counselors play a key role in developing and implementing career activities to facilitate student career development. As a result, making career development a priority and activities to facilitate career development an integral part of the guidance program should be the ultimate goal of our educational institutions.
Given that the workplace and the requirements for success in the workplace are changing, it is important that students become well prepared for the transitions they will make throughout their career. After all Aristotle observed that, “pleasure in a job puts perfection in the work”
If the Ministry of Education doesn’t want to look like a failed institution which is unable to live up to its functions as a supervisory body of the country’s education system, then it must begin to oil its tools and start working seriously on all sectors of our educational system; guidance and counseling units inclusive.
By Daniel Kofi Bekoe
Communication & PR Practitioner.
0247254602
