Prioritise counselling, guidance in developing curriculum -Two bodies appeal to GES

Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) Ghana and the Mastercard Foundation have reiterated the need to promote guidance and counselling in schools, especially at the pre-tertiary level.

The organisations have, therefore, called on the guidance and counselling unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to prioritise counselling and guidance in developing its curriculum as it play an essential role in the development of children.

The call was made during a Mastercard Foundation Research seminar in Accra to assess research findings on support systems and programmes pertaining to guidance and counselling in schools.

Schools were selected at Camfed’s operational regions in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Central regions.

The seminar brought together representatives of the Ministry of Education (MoE), the Ghana Education Service (GES), academics and researchers, guidance and counselling experts and regulatory and inspectorate bodies.

Guidance and Counselling

Giving an insight into the scope of  the study, a Social Development Consultant and Director of Perform Ghana, Mr Kofi Asare, said a research was conducted on 20  endowed and less-endowed schools.

He said it was identified that there were no approach, budget or policy available at the GES to support the development of counselling and guidance in schools, stating that the situation had contributed to the absence of a structured guidance and counselling department in schools.

Mr Asare also stressed the need to train more guidance and counselling professionals, as well as create a professional class to have a better phase of guidance and counselling.

The aim of the seminar was to assess research evidence gathered on the support systems and programmes pertaining to guidance and counselling in schools.

Recommendations

Camfed recommended that the MoE and the GES embarked on a massive public engagement campaign to orient parents and students to guidance and counselling.

It added that the GES should develop a handbook for students on key guidance and counselling issues.

Camfed

The National Director of Camfed Ghana, Mr John Asibi Ali, explained that the seminar served as a precursor to its annual learning summit where documents and policies developed by Camfed will be presented to relevant educational institutions.

He mentioned a number of works done by Camfed and the GES to design and implement programmes and interventions based on empirical data resulting from rigorous primary research with significant field work component.

Mr Ali added that Camfed sought to provide comprehensive support to brilliant young women in rural communities within Camfed’s operational regions,namely the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Central regions.