Ejisu: GES, Camfed builds capacities of guidance and counselling coordinators
The Ghana Education Service (GES) is redirecting its energies towards enhancing the guidance and counselling unit of the service to conform to international best practices and prevent students from going astray.
The new module is to produce students beyond the school environment by making them fit into society and contribute to national development.
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In line with the new move, the GES with support from Camfed Ghana, a pan-African movement, supporting girls and women to thrive, learn and lead change, has built the capacities of school-based and regional guidance and counselling coordinators from Bono and the Western region to champion the process.
The capacity-building workshop held at Ejisu in the Ejisu municipality of the Ashanti region was to equip coordinators and resource them with the right knowledge, skills and attitude to work effectively and efficiently.
It will help do away with the old system of imposition, to have the buy-in of students before taking any final decision.
The coordinators were taken through mentorship, behaviour modification, education and emergency and positive discipline tools to achieve the expected behaviour.
The Director of Guidance and Counseling Unit of the GES, Mrs Gifty Sekyi-Bremansu, said the exercise was to give a new face to the unit and help coordinators to know when to empathize with students during the delivery of counselling services.
She called for greater collaboration between the coordinators and students as well as parents to fashion out the best approach to solving disciplinary issues.
Commendation
Mrs Sekyi-Bremansu, commended Camfed Ghana for its critical role in supporting education in Ghana, especially girls and women education.
The programmes officer of Camfed Ghana, Mr Martin-Rex Mousayir Kuunyem, said since its mentorship programmes tie strongly with issues of guidance and counselling, there was the need to support GES to ensure that students came out with the best of behaviours.
He said the success of the programme will promote teacher-mentor networkS aimed at providing psycho-social support for beneficiary students.
Beyond this, Mr Kuunyem said Camfed had developed a number of programmes to help students identify their full potential and build their confidence levels "to face the world."