PRIVATISATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA

PRIVATISATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA

Mr. Z. Zayapragassarazan, Senior Lecturer
and
Dr. S. Ganapathy, Senior Lecturer

Department of Education
Pope John Paul II College of Education
Puducherry-605 010.

E-mail: zprazan@yahoo.co.in


Introduction
The basic character of education is that it informs the person and enlightens him about things he does not know and thus initiates him into asking all sorts of questions about nature, about life, about society and its organizations. Thus education makes a person capable of thinking for himself and finding answers to questions that are significant for one’s life. So education is said to be a liberating force.
Higher education refers to education in post-higher secondary institutions, colleges and universities. Since it constitutes the top most stage of formal education, it is called as higher education. More importantly it is concerned with processes in the more advanced phases of human learning. The entrants are about 18 years of age, mentally matured and capable of performing at the abstract level.
The three aspects of higher education are:
1. Socio-economic and industrial development has created a pressure towards greater specialization.
2. As societies grow more complex, more selective and efficient means of cultural transmissions evolved resulting in formal institutionalized system.
3. Research has emerged one of the most significant dimensions of higher education today.
Till nineties higher education in India was mostly funded and governed by the state and central government. Since nineties the output from the higher secondary/intermediate courses has significantly increased the growth of private colleges is being witnessed. This growth of private colleges has mainly in the field of arts and science rather than professional /technological colleges. This has created a big gap in purview of nation’s knowledge which is more important for the all round development of the nation. In this context it would be worth mentioning about the concept of liberalization, privatization and globalization (LPG). The LPG has forced India whether to go for Privatization in General or Privatization of Education in particular.
The wave of Privatization is sweeping across the world. It is aimed at breaking the monopoly of the public sector in a number of are as including education. The essence of Privatization lies in the induction of Private ownership and publicly owned enterprises. This can lead to zero-public ownership to various degrees of private ownership in form of joint-ventures. This is in narrow sense in which the concept of privatization is used. In a broader sense, it connotes besides private ownership, introduction of private management and control in public enterprise.
“Privatisation is the general process of involving the private sector, the ownership or operation of a state owned enterprise”. Since the impact of privatization of penetrating in all sectors of the economy, it is bound to affect education sector as well. The question arises why is privatization being recommended in education?



Causes of Privatisation
The major causes of privatization of education includes the following:
1. The expansion and establishment of education institution is increasingly high and the same has been shouldered mainly by the state. A stage has now come when the state is finding it very difficult to meet the democratic aspirations of the people for further expansion of education system due to paucity of resources. It is therefore felt that the private sector be inducted in education so that it can share the burdens in funding education.
2. Knowledge explosion is taking place in the world and underdeveloped economies must keep pace with this knowledge explosion. Education or knowledge industry is becoming the key factor in the process of development. This being so education is no longer viewed as a social service rather it is considered as a necessary economic input. In this effort the private sector is also considered to play its part since it is a major beneficiary of the knowledge industry.
3. The world is passing through fourth industrial revolution. This consists of information technology, bio-technology, nano-technology, robotics, application of lasers and new industrial materials. The growth of satellite TV has further strengthened information revolution in the world along with development in computer technology. These technological developments have increased the requirements of educated and technical manpower at a much higher level. Since the public sector due to limitedness of resources allocated to education cannot meet the needs of industry and other sectors of the economy, it is vital that private sector is initiated in the programmes of skilled manpower to take advantage of growing technologies.
4. Privatization can respond to market signals or market demand for labour in the more efficient and prompt manner than the public sector, which finds it very difficult to introduce flexibility in operations of human resource development.
5. Over years, the public sector has failed to generate resources from the recipients of education, it has become more or less free public good and this has devalued the education in the eyes of recipients. Privatization may lead to changing for the service provided which is likely to generate great responsibility among the recipients of education. This results in greater efficiency in teaching learning and improvement in its quality.
6. Privatization by generating more resources from students’ fees will help to reduce fiscal burdens of the government.
Components of Privatization
1. Establishment of institution imparting education and skills in the private sector namely schools, colleges, polytechnics, research laboratories, professional colleges in agriculture, engineering, medicine, management and research organizations.
2. Introducing full cost on the individuals or on the institution may be a burden or both. So the withdrawal of subsidies can be then over a period of time, with the help of state support in the interim period and finally the state support can be completely withdrawn over a period of time.

3. To introduce the culture of private organization by granting the management the right to hire and fire academic and other supporting staff.
4. To grant the right to the management to start or stop a course or courses depending upon market signals.
5. To persuade the users of the output of the educational institutions to contribute towards the funding of the education expenditure.
Scenario at Higher Education Level
The higher education institution in India can be grouped into four:
a) Those founded funded and run by the state governments.
b) Those founded funded and run by the private agencies.
c) Those founded and run by the private agencies but funded by the government.
d) Those founded and run by the private agencies but funded partly by the government and partly by non-governmental sources.
Majority of the institutions in the India belonging to the category ‘c’, it is evident higher education institution are largely run by the state or are heavily aided by the state though they operate under private management. All colleges whether run by the university or state or private trust charge the same level of fees and pay the same scales of pay to their academic and non-academic staff. Thus even the private colleges are being funded by the state to the extent of 95%. Similar situations prevail in most part of the country. Thus higher education predominantly funded by the state, though it may operate under labels of private trust. This was the scenario until last decade. This scenario has been changing tremendously during this decade. The UGC has given approval to more number of self financing colleges deemed universities, etc., and the number has been increasing due to the above explained factors such as knowledge explosion, industrialization, internationalization of education, GATT, etc.,
Forms of Privatization
In this juncture it would be relevant to consider the following forms of privatization in education:
1. Zero privatization of education with total responsibility to be taken over by the state at all levels.
2. Mild privatization of education by gradually increasing recovery cost of education by way of fees to 50% level. The remaining cost should be subsidized by the state.
3. Intensive privatization by insisting at least 75% cost is covered by students’ fees and employers’ contribution.
4. Total privatization with total freedom to private sector to establish educational institution and recover full cost from the beneficiaries or even charge cost plus pricing and generate profit from investment in education – the so called commercialization of education.
Out of these forms 1st and 4th cannot be feasible. Remaining the 2nd and 3rd can be made feasible along with increased state intervention in private sector institutions in par with the interest of the socially, economically, linguistically, ethnically, geographically, etc., deprived groups.
Merits of Privatization
1. The burden of the state is reduced as a consequence of privatization in establishing educational institution.
2. The democratic aspirations of the people for further education are many times disturbed due to the paucity of resources. This can be overcome by privatization of education.
3. The knowledge divide among the rural and urban between backward states and advanced states, developed nations and developing nations, can be minimized through privatization, which opens door for more number of people and for easy access for knowledge.
4. This will proceed India to meet the challenges of modern industrial revolution in the global scenario.
5. This would easily help India to advance well in the areas of information technology, bio-technology and nano-technology.
6. Since the fiscal burden is partly shouldered by private sector, the government will be less burdened to meet the other needs of the nation. Thus the economy of the nation could easily recover and rise along with the economic trends of the other fast developing nations and developed nations.
7. This will also attract foreign students from under developed, least developed and developing nations and even from developed nations and paves way for foreign exchange.
8. Privatization may lead to international standard of infrastructure.
9. Privatization provides more opportunities to develop teaching and learning competencies. Hence there will be an improvement in the quality of education output.
Demerits of Privatization
1. Quality assurance is not guaranteed through privatization.
2. Accountability in education becomes a question mark due to privatization.
3. Intercultural and inter social changes may take place which may not be easily acceptable by Indian minds.
4. The public sector institutions at higher level have much better record of responding to the societal needs of SC/STs and other backward sections of the society than the private sector institutions. There is no assurance for the socially underprivileged groups in the higher institutions of private concerns.
5. There may not be any limitation in the fee structure and the fee structure may be depending upon the richness of the institution.
6. With respect to the faculty selection, the private institution may acquire the right to hire and fire both the academic staff. The same is case for the starting and stopping a course.
7. Autonomy of students and teachers, teaching learning freedom and the democratic set up may not exist.
8. Privatization may lead to more autonomy of institutions. The degree of acceptance of the Degrees obtained from these institutions is unknown by the job market or industry and institutions of higher learning. These institutions may not go for compulsory assessment and accreditation of national boards.
Conclusion
Whether we accept privatization or not is not a question. Rather, it is good for the nation to experiment privatization in a rational and judicious way for a selected period of time in selected areas and resources. But it is not advisable to keep away ourselves from the process of privatization. When there are good role models of developed nations, having become developed nations because of privatization. To put it in a nut shell privatization is inevitable in this world of new industrial and technological revolution and to meet the growing needs of human power.

References
Amartya Sen (1990), Socialism, Markets and Democracy, The Indian Economic Journal, Vol. 37, No. 4, p5.

Amrik Singh (1985), Redeeming Higher Education , Ajantha Publications, New Delhi.

Barbara Lee and John Nelis (1990), Enterprise Reform and Privatization in Socialist Economies, World Bank Discussion Paper No. 4, p.1.

Ghosh and Mathew Zachariah (1987), Education and the Process of Change, Sage Publications, New Delhi.

Ruddar Datt (1993), Privatization Bane or Panacea, Pragati Publications, Delhi.

ENCOUNTERING EMERGING CHALLENGES IN TEACHER EDUCATION

ENCOUNTERING EMERGING CHALLENGES IN
TEACHER EDUCATION

Z. Zayapragassarazan
Lecturer in Education
Pope John Paul II College of Education
Pondicherry-605 010.

E-mail: zprazan@yahoo.co.in

Since time immemorial education is envisaged as the most effective way of enlightenment for all, which will lead to better and higher quality of life. Teachers have the highest influence on the evolution of the society. They not only give knowledge but also generate love for pursuit of knowledge. They act as mentors pursuing all round development of learners. Therefore, to build a generation of constructive, progressive and enlightened teachers, the education of teachers should be carefully scrutinised and sculpted. Teacher education has gained all the more importance, in today’s context, with an explicit aim of ‘Quality Education for All’.

Educationists the world over have agreed that the training of the teachers is of utmost importance in any educational endeavour. The Vedas call it a divine exercise and no wonder the teacher was defied. “Acharya Devo Bhava” says the Upanishads. From Vedic times, ashrams and gurukuls have insisted on the primacy of the teacher and the utmost importance of teacher training. The great Indian Universities of Taxila and Nalanda were real centres of knowledge via training. The potentialities of the child have to be nurtured, just as in Nature a mighty tree evolves from a very simple and small seed. This is not an easy task and hence, various commission and committees often recommend the need for careful implementation of teacher training. Today, we talk of caste recruitment, appointment of teachers, minorities, reservation and salaries only. Agitations were held for more and more benefits, but no one seems to talk about training teachers to make them committed and dedicated. Teacher training perhaps gets the lowest priority in our educational scale.

Teacher Education Programmes in India
In India, a variety of teacher preparation programmes are currently in vogue. Some of the programmes are stage-specific like the secondary teacher education programme (B.Ed), elementary teacher education programme (D.Ed) and nursery teacher training programme (NTT), while some other programmes are subject specific like the programmes meant for the preparation of teachers for languages, art and craft, music and dance, and physical education. Teacher preparation programmes are also categories as degree level programmes like the B.Ed., B.P.Ed., and B.El.Ed., integrated programmes like the 4 years integrated teacher education programme – B.A.B.Ed., B.Sc.,B.Ed., and the non-degree programmes like the D.Ed, BTC, JBT, PTC, Etc. (NCTE, 2003).





Quality education
Quality education should result in students acquiring necessary competencies as an outcome of their education. Today’s student requires four types of competencies:
 Cognitive competencies such as solving problems, thinking critically, formulating questions, searching for relevant information, making informed judgements, making efficient use of information, conducting observations and investigations, inventing and creating new things, analysing data, presenting data communicatively, communicating effectively, orally and in writing.
 Meta-cognitive competencies, such as self-reflection or self-evaluation.
 Social competencies, such as leading discussions and conversations, persuading, co-operating, and working in groups.
 Effective dispositions, such as perseverance, internal motivation, initiative, responsibility, self-efficacy, independence, flexibility.
Amartya Sen rightly emphasized the importance of developing human capabilities through education for development. In his scheme of development, quality education has an important role in quality of life. Quality education is possible only through quality teachers who come out from quality institutions (Prasad, 2004).

Determinants of Quality Teacher Education
- Quality thinkers as quality policy makers
- Quality policies
- Quality curriculum designers
- Quality curriculum
- Quality curriculum transaction
- Quality infrastructure and teaching-learning resources
- Quality selection procedure for staff and students
- Quality selection procedure of student teachers
- Quality knowledge and skill development
- Quality communication skills and personality development
- Quality monitoring system, appraisal, assessment and accreditation
- Quality guidance and counselling services
- Quality community links and community work
- Quality consultation services
- Quality links with peer institutions
- Quality placement services
- Quality teacher training institution
- Quality co-curricular activities and extra-curricular activities
- Quality school experience programme or Internship training programme
- Quality In-service training programmes
- Quality Parent-teacher associations
- Quality Research and development
- Quality Alumni association

Factors that make the present teacher training programmes ineffective
 The teacher education today is far from a satisfactory position and the same was stated by various Committees and Commissions constituted from time to time. The teacher education is undergoing a severe turmoil. It is considered to be a sub-system of education but even today it remains isolated from the other areas of education.
 Quality issues of the teacher education programmes can be examined by analysing the quality of input, quality of process and quality of output. This can also be stated in terms of quality of content and technique of teacher education (training), the quality of teacher educators, the quality of infrastructure and the quality of teacher trainees. Any deficiency in the above said quality determinants will influence the effectiveness of the teacher education programmes.
 The impact of privatisation and globalization increases competition everywhere. In this era of competition most of the teacher educational institutions face difficulty in surviving. Hence, immediate steps have to be taken by these teacher educational institutions for survival and growth. Various measures have to be taken by these educational institutions in imparting quality education for the student teachers in order to survive in this competitive era.
 The present teacher education programmes does not have meaningful linkages with schools, peer institutions, other institutions of higher education and the community.
 Curriculum reforms and pedagogic reforms are not coping with the rate of advancement of knowledge, besides varied packages of curriculum followed by different affiliating universities.
 Mushroom growth of ill-equipped, ill-provided and ill planned teacher education colleges has led to the production of ineffective teachers in the name of teachers.
 Admission of undeserving candidates based on the caste, creed, religion, etc. and political interference for admission of students and for the recognition of the institution.
 Increasing competition due to privatisation of education causes tremendous pressure on admission.
 Delay in starting the courses due to conflicts between the Central/State Governments and the teacher training institutions with regards to obtaining No Objection Certificates, minority status, reservation norms, admission norms, etc.

 Poor quality of teacher training due to poor learning resources and with higher teacher educator-student teachers’ ratio.
 Poor assessment, appraisal and monitoring systems.
 Lack of preparation of the teacher trainees with regard to the contemporary global and national issues.
 The curriculum transacted in teacher education institutions fails to be translated in actual situations. The dynamics of the school and society are not reflected in teacher training and thus the teachers produced are rendered incapable of coping with the changing times.
 Lack of committed and dedicated teacher educators and appointment of unqualified or under-qualified teacher educators.
 The evaluation system is qualitatively poor and corrupt.
 Non-availability of financial grants from the Central and State Governments.
 Evil practice of collecting capitation fee for admission
 Absence of constructive and applied research opportunities in the field of education.
 The present duration of the B.Ed., and M.Ed., course makes the course more examination oriented and not oriented for professional preparation.
 The professional preparations of teacher educators are not relevant and satisfactory to consider them as teacher educators.
 No intensive microteaching and macro teaching practices to understand and learn the teaching skills.
 The link practice or the teaching practice carried out during the teacher training courses are not much enough to learn the techniques of teaching and to realise the teacher trainees themselves as teachers in all the respects.
 No research exposure to teacher trainees and no interaction with the community.
 No post-internship training after completing the teacher- training course as it is compulsory for other professional courses like medicine and law.
 Lack of involvement of teacher trainees, school teachers, teacher educators, research scholars and principals/administrators of teacher education institutes in framing policies with regards to teacher education.
 Skill of ‘learning to learn’ is lacking among teachers and teacher educators.
 Teacher education institutions do not have link with their similar institutions and do not involve themselves in consultant jobs for the government or other private agencies.
Challenges of Teacher Education in India
 The Constitutional goal of opportunity to all is still far from being a reality. It needs continuous pursuit in view of the inherent capacity of the student. Also a balance has to be struck between the need for competition and equality of opportunity. The teacher training system does not generate among teachers a new perception to follow both aspects with zeal.
 Ours is a multicultural and plural society. Every region and state has its typical cultural identity and there is a need to utilise the same as the context for a child’s learning. The teacher education today fails to cater to this culture specificity and is dealing with one uniform, mechanistic way of student learning. Thus, there arises a problem of alienating the people from their roots. Also teachers educated in bigger cities do not want to go to remote areas for their teaching assignments.
 The teachers who are produced today will teach the present and the next generation. At the present rate of knowledge explosion, it will not be fair when the knowledge of skills developed today will become obsolete in due course of time. Thus they will need to update their knowledge and skills. The teacher education today fails to provide an extensive and effective system of continuous education. So the pre-service teacher education programme should find a continuum in later in-service programmes (Nisha Singh, 2001).
 Major lacunae in the current teacher education programmes are:
o Less duration of teacher training programmes
o Less duration of the professional preparation of teacher educators
o No post-internship in teacher training
o Low quality of the professional preparation of teacher educators
o Non-availability of adequate quantitative and qualitative research in education
o No importance to research and development in teacher education
o Inadequate number of Centres for Advanced Studies in Education
o Absence of an Education University
Encountering the Challenges
 An assessment of already existing teacher training institutes besides accreditation should be undertaken.
 NAAC Accreditation should be made compulsory for all teacher education institutions.
 The institutions that are doing pioneering work in teacher education area should be declared models and their assistance may be sought in upgrading standards of other teacher training institutions.
 There are universities separately for languages and all professional courses such as engineering, medicine, agricultural, law, etc except for education. So the government should take steps to establish a separate university for education, which could do a collective work in terms of teaching, research and extension.
 A communication network should be made among all the teacher education institutions for sharing of information resources for research, development and extension. The human and material resources should be shared among institutions so that the best of the talent will not be restricted to one area but will benefit all.
 The inclusion of the below mentioned missing components and emerging areas in the present teacher education curriculum could make the teacher education programme more meaningful:
- Adult education
- Civic and citizenship education
- Classroom ecology
- Comparative education
- Developing scientific temper
- Disaster management education
- Economics of education
- Education administration
- Education for international understanding
- Education for national and emotional integration
- Education for peace and disarmament
- Education for rural development
- Education statistics
- Entrepreneurship education
- Environmental education
- Ethics in education (Teacher ethics and teaching ethics)
- Guidance and counselling
- Health education with special reference to HIV/AIDS
- Human rights education
- Inclusive education
- Information and communication technology (ICT) in education
- Learning disabilities and learning needs of the disabled (Special education)
- Learning to live together
- Life skills
- Need based and value based education
- Population education
- Rural learning needs
- Socially Useful Productive Work
- Student diversity
- Value education
- Women’s studies and women’s education
- Yogic education
 The quality of preservice training should be improved with the incorporation of recent development in Pedagogical sciences and information technology. A more rigorous training and realistic work experience is needed. Thus there is need to increase the duration of the preservice training.
 School is a part of community and it should not be isolated from its whole. The teacher education should seek the support of the community in pursuing the objectives of education.
 The personality and aptitude of teachers are important and thus it should be assessed before entry into teacher education institutions and also while recruiting the teachers. Their positive attitude can make education a pleasure for the learners.
 The quality of teaching materials leaves much to be desired. There is need to improve on this method. Modern technology should be used in daily classroom transaction, which will help in developing more effective teachers.
 The teachers and teacher training institutions should be actively involved in taking decisions and policy making at government level. This will reduce the gap between policy and its implementation.
 Media today is continuously stimulating our senses and this media is luring students. The learning in school has to be more attractive and interesting to be meaningful for learners. The teacher is not merely to teach but to inspire the learners to seek knowledge, arouse curiosity, sustain interest and increase the span of attention. He has to be friend, philosopher and guide and not merely dispenser of knowledge. The teacher education institutions, therefore, should equip them for this new role by training the teacher trainees in the usage of educational technology or instructional technology or information and communication technology (ICT).
 The organisation of a variety of co-curricular activities like house systems, school assembly, celebration of days, college magazines and journals, dramatics clubs, literary associations, cultural festivals, games and sports should form an integral part of the curriculum of a teacher education programme. Besides making the life in a professional institution lively and interesting, it equips the prospective teachers to make curriculum transaction in schools interesting and child centered.
 The illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. This type of attitude is lacking with the teacher community. The teacher trainees should be taught to update their skills and knowledge and practising an appropriate value system as quality individuals from a quality institution to build a quality India.
 The School Experience Programme constitutes the most important component of a teacher preparation programme. This should be done sincerely with full duty conscious on the part of the student teachers, teacher educators and the school teachers. The evaluation of the student teachers performance in the school experience programme should be the joint responsibility of the teacher educators, school teachers and the head of the school.
 In our country the concept of post-course internship, has not yet gained currency in the context of teacher preparation programmes, although it forms an integral part of many other professional programmes. Post-course internship provides an opportunity to a prospective professional, to gain practical experience under the watchful eyes and guidance of experienced professionals. This could be made compulsory and the duration may be fixed at least six months and if necessary it could be extended up to one academic year. During internship, the student teachers may be paid a reasonable amount of stipend, as they will be required to work as full time regular teachers. The student teachers should be eligible for the award of ‘Degree’ after the successful completion of post course internship.
 The vacation period of one and-a-half to two months, being a part of the total duration of the 2 years D.T.Ed and 4 years Integrated Course (B.A.Ed., B.Sc.,Ed) programmes should be effectively utilized to enhance the rigour of the teacher preparation programme by planning and arranging summer works like education tours, community living and community work, home study works and assignments.
Conclusion
The importance of teacher training is also reflected in the Supreme Court judgement. A piece thereof may be quoted here. “Teachers should be subjected to rigorous training with rigid scrutiny of efficiency. This training needs to have greater relevance to the needs of the day. The ill trained or substandard teachers would be detrimental to our educational system if not a punishment to our children. The government and the University must, therefore, take care to see that inadequacy in the training of teachers is not compounded by any extraneous consideration.”
The importance of teachers and their training is increasing. This fact is being realised and thus we need to bring changes for its improvement. The job of the teacher training institutions is to instil quality training through quality education, preach universal brotherhood, develop a sense of patriotism, encourage them to be innovative and acquire holistic knowledge. Teacher training institutions should be open to all, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, sex or status. Politicians with questionable ethics, unscrupulous money launderers, self-proclaimed religious leaders, uncommitted, self-serving socialites and pseudo-intellectuals, should be kept out of this field. Then the quality of teacher education will improve and we can scale high in higher learning.

Reference
National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), (2003) Elementary Teacher Education – A Blue Print of Process Management, New Delhi.
Nisha Singh, (2001) Teacher Education – Changing Perception for the Next Millennium, New Frontiers in Education, 31(3).
Prasad, V.S. (2004) The Peril and Promise of Higher Education in India, University News, 42(32) August 09.

NEED FOR COMPREHENSIVE GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PROGRAMMES AND SERVICES IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

NEED FOR COMPREHENSIVE GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PROGRAMMES AND SERVICES IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Z. Zayapragassarazan
Lecturer (SS)
Department of Education
Pope John Paul II College of Education
Puducherry-605 010.
E-mail: zprazan@yahoo.co.in
&
Rev. Fr. P. Paul Rajkumar
Principal and Secretary
Pope John Paul II College of Education
Puducherry-605 010.


ABSTRACT
Today’s young people are living in an exciting time, with an increasingly diverse and mobile society, new technologies, and expanding opportunities. Young minds need to be oriented towards respect for all persons, inclusive community, quality education, concern for the poor and social justice and value based overall personality development. To help ensure that all students are well prepared to manage the above said areas, the guidance and counselling of students should be made as an integral component of the educational mission of any school or college to promote the personal, social, educational and career development of all students. The ongoing guidance and counselling programmes in colleges are not found to be much effective and have met with serious criticism by various sectors. The present paper discusses on the need for effective guidance and counselling programmes in colleges to ensure proper guidance and support for the overall development and well-being of the college students. The authors of this paper suggest for Comprehensive Guidance and Counselling Programmes and Services (CGCPS) which are systematically planned to meet the needs of all Indian students. A comprehensive guidance and counselling program includes four components. These components encompass services and programmes ranging from college-wide developmental programs and services (primary prevention) to individual interventions, which include counselling, team consultation, and referral to specialized student services and community resources (secondary and tertiary prevention). The four components are: Developmental Guidance, Individual Planning, Responsive Services - Counselling, Consultation, and Referrals and System Support. CGCPS support students in various areas of their development. The provision of CGCPS is the shared responsibility of all staff. A team approach should be employed, wherein all staff members have specified roles to play. Thus student counsellors play a key role in planning and implementing programs and services.

Key Words: Guidance and counseling, student counsellors, Comprehensive Guidance and Counselling Programmes and Services, higher education.

Introduction
Education in its widest sense is expected to broaden a child’s horizon in more ways. While, classroom learning widens the child’s intellectual horizon, sports and education help to widen the physical, social, and emotional competencies. There is no limit to one’s horizons of knowledge, skill, social wisdom and emotional maturity. The main objective of education is to widen such horizons of knowledge, experience and competence of the learners. The present educational scenario hardly appears to take this into account. What matters now is the standard of academic achievement and the ranks and one takes into consideration the performance in the academic field only, then the rest will take a back seat. All in all, the educational institutions, parents and the society are at pressure pushing a child from the school level itself toward excelling in a particular field. This is done irrespective of the aptitude, interest or inclination of the child. This is where the role of “counselling” is important to enable the students make right choices, take right steps and follow right path suitable to their aptitude and interest. It is also required to enable the parents and the society to follow a proper path in this regard.

Guidance and Counselling
Guidance and counselling are two sides of the same coin. The goal in both cases is to give an opportunity for an individual to see a variety of available options and thereafter, assist the person in making a wise choice. Guidance is the process that is put in place at a time a choice is to be made. Counselling on the other hand is a process which takes place in a one-to-one relationship between an individual beset by problems with which he cannot cope alone and a professional worker whose training and experience have qualified him to help others reach solutions to various types of personal difficulties” (Hahn and MacLean, 1955). Counselling is concerned with bringing about a voluntary change in the client. To this end, the counsellor helps and facilitates the client achieve the desired change or make the suitable choice. The client alone is responsible for the decisions or the choices he makes, though the counsellor may assist in this process by his warmth and understanding relationship.




Need for Guidance and Counselling in Educational Institutions
Large numbers of students of the present generation find themselves in the midst of various adjustment problems. The following reasons necessitate guidance and counselling in any learning institution:

• The dynamic human behavior demands scientific and careful handling of students. Curriculum change, advancements in science and technology requires adjustments on the part of learners and teachers.
• Overloaded Curriculum and Syllabi have expanded during the past decades. For example, at the high school level the general or composite mathematics of yesteryears has been replaced by modern mathematics, more and more additions may yet to be contemplated.

• Present generation learners are expected to give more importance on self-learning as compared to the spoon-feeding approach of earlier years. Students are expected to use effective study methods and learning to be successful in their chosen field of study.

• The number of students who drop out or fail to graduate should be minimized as much as possible.

• The common emotional problems of students for example anxiety, depression, and emotional sensitivity may be caused by the pressing conditions of the learning teaching process and therefore need treatment.
• Generally, in colleges of higher learning the support of trained professionals is important for the academic, social and personal problems of the students.

• The socio-cultural, religious and economic characteristics of the student of a particular institution also demand the need for guidance and counselling service.

• The students who have been away from full time education for a long time become a challenge to the college teachers to help them to adjust themselves to college life.

• Other than the emotional and behavioral adjustments they have to make, the students are also expected to develop qualities such as good study skills, taking lecture notes, effectively using reference materials and other resources.

• Some of the students who are married (in most of the cases women students) and have responsibilities to their families need proper guidance and counselling in all respects.

• As the students are from different regions, their interaction is highly influenced by their cultural differences. The guidance and counselling service can work to facilitate the integration of students.

• Some of the adult college students are used to the ups and downs of life. Their age, their social, economic and personal backgrounds, including their present situation, has its own unique effect on each of them. The college need to provide personal counselling in such situations.

• The attitude and behaviour of the parents, teachers, peers, elders and low achievement of students results in the feelings of loneliness, insecurity and maladjustment with the society.

• Undesirable influences through films, print media and electronic media.

• Pub and Discotheque culture

• Sexual problems of the adolescence stage

• Drugs, alcohol, smoking and substance abuse

• The pattern of life the students were brought up by their parents (either communal or occupational) does not go well with the emerging urbanization, resulting in increasing aspirations, both realistic and unrealistic.

• In the present set up of expanding opportunities and they lack in clarity for apparent choice and decisions and yielding to parental or peer group pressures. This results in the confusion and disappointment, which leads to students taking drugs and alcohol, increasing rate of suicides, anxiety, distress and unrest among students.
• The transition stage faced by the rural and sub-urban students who come for education in urban areas and metro cities face a variety of problems like language and communication problems, adjustment with the changed social environment, feelings of isolation in the new environment, being away from home results in home sickness, depression and unrest.
• Only the brighter cream of students may very well cope up with the expectations of the parents, over loaded syllabi, technological explosion in the field of education, impact of urbanization, modern methods of instruction in the school and college level, mark oriented exams, increased competition, etc., irrespective of the capacity of the children to withstand pressure, creates psychological pressure on backward students.

• Ignorance of parents, teachers and institutions to identify the potentials of the student and the failure to channelize the same constructively into productive fields.

• The present generation students are lacking in analytical, futuristic and critical thinking that may enable them to form realistic life goals and plans. They lack not only focus but also a meaningful direction.

• Many parents have false and impractical hopes pinned on their children regarding their career choice. While the child aspires for something, the parents expect something else, resulting in a lot of pressures and conflicts.

• Failures in aspirations lead to intentional or unintentional damage to the property and life of unfortunate victims and become the so-called anti-social element.

• Adolescents with excess money and power at their disposal are misguided or mislead by their peers or by extremists thereby they are psychologically moulded to an anti-social member of their society.

• It has been identified and recognized that the present cinema films partly attribute for highlighting “puppy love” as a higher order of achievement.

• There is alarming growth in the number of adolescent pregnancies, abandoned infants and also adolescent suicides because of failure in “love”.

• One gets the impression that the highest order of achievement in life is to have a girlfriend or a boyfriend at an early possible age and a failure to achieve this leads to futility in life.

• Almost daily we come across the pathetic stories of adolescents who commit suicide out of frustration, because they have failed to achieve something which either they have aspired for or was expected of them.

Role of Guidance and Counselling in Indian Educational System
Education plays an important role in the all-round development and effective functioning of an individual. This requires going beyond syllabus, examinations etc. This is precisely where the importance of counselling comes into operation. In response to the demands of modern existence, many educational innovations have been adopted. The demand for professional and technical skills has given rise to different curricular programmes and a variety of specialized courses are now being offered. A student needs the necessary help in the choice of a useful course to suit both his capabilities and aspirations. In this context the need for “counselling” comes into picture. The goal of counselling is to help individual overcome many of their future problems.

Counselling should start early in school and should continue in order to enable individuals to meet various problems of adjustments in life. Counselling has to cater to a variety of problems, such as educational, vocational, marital, parental and personal. The major objective of counselling is to help individuals become self-sufficient, self-directed and to adjust themselves effectively to the demands of life. Individuals are provided help through counselling to realize their capacities for choice and decision making, solve their own problems and thus enhance their personal, social, emotional and intellectual development.

Comprehensive Guidance and Counselling Programmes and Services (CGCPS)
A comprehensive guidance and counselling program includes four components. These components encompass services and programs ranging from school-wide developmental programs and services (primary prevention) to individual interventions, which include counselling, team consultation, and referral to specialized student services and community resources (secondary and tertiary prevention). The four components are:

Developmental Guidance
Developmental guidance programming focuses on competencies which all students should develop in order to achieve personal success and fulfillment, and to make a contribution to society. The content of developmental guidance programme includes expected student learning outcomes in three areas: personal/social development, educational development, and career development. This content is normally delivered through classroom teaching/learning units, group guidance methods, courses for credit (e.g., School-initiated Courses and Student-initiated Projects), and school-wide programmes and projects.

Individual Planning
Individual planning assistance supports and facilitates all students in developing and managing their individual personal/social, educational, and career goals and plans. Individual Planning involves the provision of personalized information, direction, assistance, and monitoring. The activities in this component are delivered on a group or individual basis. Examples of content in the individual planning component include making transitions, orientation to new placements, student portfolios, individualized career and educational exploration and planning, counselling regarding graduation requirements and course selection, post-secondary plans, and financial aid.


Responsive Services: Counselling, Consultation, and Referrals
A comprehensive guidance and counselling program includes responding to students who are experiencing immediate on-going problems, concerns, or crises which interfere with their learning. This component includes activities such as providing information, individual and small group counselling, consulting with staff and parents, and referral to other specialists or services.

System Support
This component involves the administrative and management activities necessary to support the guidance and counselling program, as well as activities or services provided by school counsellors to support other guidance and educational programs of the school. This component includes consultation and collaboration with parents and community agencies and other support services, staff development, research, budgeting, community relations, and program evaluation.

Planning for Comprehensive Guidance and Counselling
Annual school plans should include the components of guidance and counselling. An effective guidance and counselling programme includes planned programmes and activities, based on the needs of students that result in student outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes in areas of personal, social, educational and career development. Planning should include all four components of the comprehensive guidance and counselling model. Plans should address issues of diversity and inclusion and should identify the range of programs and services to address diverse needs of all students. The process of planning should involve key stakeholders, including students, school staff, families, and the community in a meaningful way.
Planning for comprehensive guidance and counselling programs and services should include:
 A statement of vision and mission
 Identification of priorities or key target areas
 Statements of expected outcomes
 Strategies and activities to achieve the outcomes
 Measurable indicators of success (strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of activities).
Special consideration in planning should be given to the role of guidance and counseling in supporting and contributing to the following priorities of students:
 Improving outcomes especially for less successful learners
 Strengthening links among schools, families and communities
 Strengthening school planning and reporting
 Improving professional learning opportunities for educators
 Strengthening pathways among secondary schools, post-secondary education and work
 Linking policy and practice to research and evidence.

Role of a Teacher in the Counselling Process
The role of a teacher is very special. Whether many people accept it or not, it is a fact that many students spend more time with teachers whom they value rather than their parents, for any counsel or advice. This is more often seen among adolescents who are fortunate enough to have a teacher who shows a genuine concern for the student. At the adolescent age, traditionally it has been seen that the teacher very often remains an anchor point. The reasons for this are:
• From the student’s point of view, a teacher can be more objective whereas the parents show more anxiety, involvement and possessiveness about the child resulting in conflicts.
• The communication channel for the adolescent, in some cases, is more open with the teacher than the parents or even the student’s peer group. The student may think the parent is more closed in his/her thinking whereas the teacher is not.
• With the parent the child may react, but with the teacher the child may interact.
• With a parent the adolescent may withhold the information but with the teacher the she/he may communicate.

All the above may take place subject to the availability of the anchor in the teacher the child can hang on to. The teacher should be a good anchor point in such a case. Trust, confidentiality, nurturance, empathy, wisdom, maturity, positive acceptance and a host of other qualities are essential for such a ‘Teacher Counsellor’. For this, it is necessary to develop the needed competence in the teachers which the present training does not appear to sufficiently impart. An effective training programme in this direction is necessary to create the mental set and change the existent set among young teacher trainees so that they become good anchor points for a healthy supportive and secure environment around the students. It is well said that a child should “learn to win, learn to lose”, being able to accept either of these gracefully, appreciating the outcome. Only when a child has such an environment as mentioned above can this be possible.

Student counsellors are key members of guidance and student services teams. Within the context of a collaborative, interdisciplinary team approach, student counsellors play a leadership role in the development and implementation of a comprehensive guidance and counselling program. The vital functions of the student counsellor include:

Developmental Guidance: Counsellors develop, co-ordinate, and implement various developmental and preventive programs.

Individual Planning: Counsellors participate, collaborate, and consult as members of the interdisciplinary team to provide support for students' individual planning.

Responsive Services: Counsellors provide services to students in need through individual and small group guidance and counselling interventions, crisis intervention, parent out-reach, consultation, referral, and multi-systemic interventions.

Systems Support: Counsellors perform various activities intended to support the school's guidance function. Examples include conducting workshops for parents and staff, student placement, research, data collection, community outreach, and program administration.
Counsellors are also in a key position to play a vital role in threat assessment teams, student support teams and safe school teams. They often also play an advocacy role for students with staff, families, and outside agencies.

Training of Student Counsellors
Educational institutions should ensure that persons fulfilling the role of student counsellor are adequately trained. It is recommended that school or college counsellors should have completed a degree or diploma program in Guidance and counselling, including supervised practice in guidance and counselling.

Inclusive Nature of Comprehensive Guidance and Counselling
Comprehensive guidance and counselling programs and services are inclusive. They are intended to help all students realize their full potential regardless of physical, social, emotional and other challenges. The functions of student counsellors towards students with special challenges may include:
• working as a team member with other support professionals;
• intervening with students with difficult behaviour;
• providing responsive programs, including crisis counselling, group guidance and counselling, family support, and consultation;
• providing in-service support presentations to staff;
• providing special curriculum programs to strengthen personal and
• interpersonal skills such as problem-solving, decision-making, understanding feelings and self-acceptance;
• providing referrals for additional specialized support services; and
• mediating and facilitating effective behaviour change.
• providing social skills training individually and in small groups;
• assisting in establishing appropriate individual behaviour programs;
• serving as a consultant and resource to parents, teachers, and other school personnel;
• promoting workshops for staff and students on various disorders;
• supporting parents and families;
• providing career planning;
• making referrals to appropriate specialists; and
• assisting in the completion of funding applications.

Conclusion
One of the important functions of education is to provide opportunities for the total development abilities in students. Counselling, hence, is an integral part of education. In addition to the three R’s – reading, writing and arithmetic of the traditional education, modern education also emphasizes another R, the responsibility of being responsible for one’s own actions and decisions. Rogers (1951) hold that if an individual is provided an understanding of the way he sees himself, he can do the rest in helping himself. This involves highly sensitive listening with empathy and unconditional positive regard. Counselling stresses the importance of in-depth exploration of feelings about self and the confidential nature of the client-counsellor relationship. Thus counselling aids in the adjustment function, in the sense that the student is helped in making the best possible adjustment to the current situations in the educational institutions and occupational world, at home and in the community.

References
Gysbers, N. C. & Henderson, P (2000) Developing and managing your school guidance program. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
Hahn, M. E., & MacLean, M. S. (1955) Counseling psychology (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
Rogers, C. R. (1951) Client-Centered Counselling, Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.