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PANJIM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar announced that counsellors in schools and higher secondaries would be appointed by September.
Speaking at an orientation programme organized for heads of institutions, on the importance of counselling in schools, by the Goa Education Development Corporation, Parrikar said that it was important that schools employ the right kind of talent to teach at the primary level, as it is a crucial stage of a child’s career.
“The counsellors will be paid Rs 22,000 per month and the supervisors Rs 30,000. The primary teachers too are earning a good starting salary. This is necessary in order that we attract the best talent to this field,” Parrikar said.
Shripad Patnekar, Chairman of GEDC said that they have already interviewed and short-listed 67 candidates to be appointed as counsellors to cater to the 366 schools in the State and 14 supervisors for the 76 HSS schools in the State.
“The counsellors and supervisors will be expected to visit the schools once a week interact with the students and look after their psychological and emotional health,” Patnekar said.
The counsellors will be given two weeks of training under psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty during the last two weeks of August before they go to the schools. The orientation programme involved sessions by Dr Harish Shetty on school mental health and the role of a counsellor, on common psychological problems among adolescents by Ashish Srivastava and on why students fail in exams by Nandini D'Souza.
Heads of primary, secondary and higher secondary schools attended the programme held at Institute Menezes Braganza.
The government decided to go ahead with the proposals of having psychiatrists in schools after several incidents of students committing suicides on account of poor grades, parental or peer pressures and stress of school in general.