Guidance and Counselling for Post-primary Institutions Teacher's Resource Book

Abstract

BACKGROUND The Education Sector in Uganda has registered a number of challenges in regards to behaviour (social) and emotional (psychological) health of the learners and teachers in schools. It has also registered challenges in delivering that education which is functional and responds to the needs of individual learners, while achieving National Goal and Vision. The lot of psychosocial difficulties exhibited by students, range from simple undesirable emotional expressive behaviour, such as anger and anxiety, to more complex forms of student's deviant behaviour such as drug abuse, violent strikes, depression and traumatic stress disorders. These are mainly a result of the challenging social and economic conditions, aggravated by war, HIV/AIDS and poverty, among the many. Career and educational development of students have also been a challenge as most students are pressured by peers and mass mentality to enroll and train for courses and professions which may not necessarily lead them to be self-reliant, as self-sustaining and independent, economically and socially. Most of the graduates of post-primary institutions still look to the public sector as a major employer, while the public sector have very little opportunities for the ever-increasing number of graduates. The changing job-markets and economic activities, therefore, pause a number of challenges to students, in relation to courses which could give them instant job or employment. This, coupled with economic constraints of families, has given fertile grounds for negative peer pressures, leading to risky behaviour and antisocial activities by students, disrupting and interfering with smooth learning and training programmes. It gave rise to more complex social challenges, including the phenomenon of street children, drug abuse, undesirable sexual orientations, child heads of families and engaging in early sexual activities, among young persons. The recent social and economic transformation in Uganda necessitated Education Sector Reforms in a bid by government to have an education system, which responds to the need for national integration and development. It is against this background that in 1987 a commission was set up to examine the Education Sector. This resulted in the Education Sector Review Commission Report of 1989, entitled, Education for National Integration and Development. This was later adopted by government to become the Government White Paper on Education (192). One of the major objectives of Education for National Integration and Development was to create national wealth, through the development of an independent national economy. This was to involve the development of appropriate and trained manpower with productive skills required for economic development and developing the national economy in an integrated and self-sustaining manner. To achieve this, the White Paper recommended and stressed the need for Career Guidance. Recommendation R.74 states that 'each Secondary school shall have at least one teacher responsible for Guidance and Counselling. He[/she] should liaise regularly with higher educational institutions in order to prepare periodic information regarding admission quotas in different fields of learning at the tertiary level for the benefit of the prospective candidates.' Recommendation R.75 stressed that 'there should be regular exchange of information among institutions about their facilities for further education and training. Also there should be provision for aptitude testing in schools so that students can be properly guided in the choice of courses offered in various schools. Universal Secondary Education The introduction of Universal Secondary Education (USE) programme was certainly a welcome initiative for many Ugandans who were unable to afford paying school fees in post primary institutions. It has increased enrolment, bringing in fresh challenges to teachers, who are already finding it difficult to handle fewer students and to deal with the complex challenges of helping young persons stay free and safe from HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, deviant activities, bad peers, etc. USE will certainly come with other consequences, which the teachers must be prepared to deal with, through empowering them with relevant and requisites skills of dealing with the complex academic/educational, social and psychological challenges that learners come with or face in school setting. It should also help them prepare learners for life after school, thus should emphasis: Educational Guidance Social and Psychological Guidance Career/Vocational Guidance Spiritual Guidance and Personal/Individual Guidance The teachers should be able to help young persons in post-primary institutions, to develop the necessary lifeskills and values for harmonious and productive living. This Resource Book, when followed with effective programme of implementation of Guidance and Counselling in post-primary Institutions is one sure way of dealing with these complexities of life and academics, within the social, academic, economic and educational contexts and national priorities of Government of Uganda. This is intended to sustain and reinforce the practice which has been standardised and introduced in the Primary Schools. It will be achieved through a number of process activities, until when schools start effectively carrying out and providing effective Guidance and Counselling Services to their learners and the school community in general, independently, but uniformly.