Government Should Engage Counselors For Basic Schoools

The Ghana National Association of Certificated Counsellors (GNACC) in collaboration with TUCEE Institute of Counselling and Technology is advocating counsellors in all basic schools in Ghana by 2020.

Speaking at a News conference in Accra, Mrs Cecilia Tutu-Danquah, the Interim National President of GNACC said counsellors were the first agents for the promotion of mental health and the right unit to ensure peaceful settlement of conflicts and appealed to the hearts and conscience of people.

She said everything about schooling from basic to tertiary seemed to be based on cognitive abilities, intellectualism and teach-test; neglecting the other key aspects of the educational philosophy such as spiritual, emotional and physical.

Mrs Tutu-Danquah said it was in that direction that GNACC was undertaking the advocacy project dubbed 'Counsellors for Each School and Society in Ghana (CESIGH)' to promote counselling services in the educational system from basic to tertiary, communities, workplace and religious bodies.

She said the absence of counsellors 'explains why our educational system seems to be producing intellectuals who are not equipped with our educational system to become well balanced citizens. Their cognitive domains are well developed leaving the affective domains which is their heart, feelings, and emotions to remain under developed.'

She pleaded with basic schools, especially the private sector to establish counselling units in the educational system to provide students with the requisite counselling services they needed.

Mrs Tutu-Danquah called on parents to ensure that various institutions had counselling units to support their wards before getting them admitted in the schools and entreated the Ghana Education Service (GES) to employ licensed Counselling Psychologist to prepare students psychologically.

She said even though teachers played the role of counselling, they only identified the problem and solved it intellectually; however, the professional psychologist would use the needed skills and techniques to help curb the beginning of a negative mind-set.

'Teachers are trained to prepare students intellectually and counsellors are trained to prepare students psychologically,' she noted.

She said the provision of counselling services must start from basic schools since many children formed their dormant personalities by the age of five or latest by eight years.

Mrs Tutu-Danquah said the number of Counsellors in Senior High School levels and Tertiary Institutions must be increased to promote higher productivity of good behaviours in students and urged corporate bodies to engage the services of counselling psychologists to promote a sense of organisational community and spirit of productivity in order to achieve organisational goals.

She stressed that 'corporate counselling leads to happier, more positive, productive and secure employees as well as employers'.

She also advised religious bodies to consider services of professional counsellors to handle critical counselling needed of its members.

She said: 'the church must understand that spirituality alone does not please God, therefore members need to come to the awareness that Ministers of God are not automatic counsellors' and however, described the art and scenarios or situations that the religious leaders refer to as counselling as purely consultation, advising and vetting; urging members to advocate trained religious counsellors to help them.

Mrs Tutu-Danquah called on all Ghanaians to get involved in the 'CESIGH project, Agenda 2020' since it was a timely service needed in all aspects of our developmental agenda.