Boys in mixed schools also to get Social Justice department counselling
18 April 2015 6:35 AM GMT
Psychosocial service exists in 1000 government girls’ schools
Representational image
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Encouraged by the results achieved even in imperfect conditions, the Social Justice Department has decided to expand psychosocial or counselling services originally intended for girl students to mixed government schools.
As of now, psychosocial service exists in 1000 government girls’ schools. It will now be extended to 159 mixed schools to bring boys into the counselling net. The project was designed as a girl-centric one because it secured its funds from Kishori Shakthi Yojana, a central scheme to empower adolescent girls.
“Earlier, when Mahila Samakhya Society conducted a similar project in Thiruvananthapuram and Malappuram, we found that boys, more than girls, were responding to counselling,” a top Social Justice Department official said.
Psychosocial counselling has created an atmosphere of openness. There has been a dramatic rise in reported cases of child abuse in the last five years. “Nearly 80 percent of such cases were revealed to the concerned authorities through these counsellors. It is a measure of confidence school kids have for these counsellors,” the official said.
The Department, however, concedes that these counsellors, mostly MSW degree or Psychology MA holders, work in trying conditions. Many have found themselves unwelcome in schools.
“Senior teachers find it hard to accept our presence. They feel that we cannot be of any help. Many of us have also been forced to do data entry work or even the work of attenders and peons,” said Saraswathy, a counsellor who works in a government school in Kozhikode. “Various benefits like maternity leave have been denied to us,” she said.
( Source : dc )
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