india

Updated: Aug 05, 2019 16:11 IST

School teachers in Goa will be trained to double up as counsellors to help arrest the dropout rate in higher classes and tide over the current shortage of counsellors, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced on Monday.

Speaking in the Goa Legislative Assembly, Sawant, who also holds the education portfolio, said that the need of the hour was to help guide students not just in their personal lives but also towards the right career path.

“In truth, teachers should be counsellors, it is important for teachers to guide students and if teachers were playing this role, the dropout rate would have been much lower and it is the teacher who can guide the student towards the right career,” Sawat said, adding that it will be mandatory for each school to send at least two teachers for counselling training.

Independent legislator Rohan Khaunte had raised the issue of the high dropout rate which he said was on account of students unable to cope with the syllabus as well as unsure about their career prospects.

BJP legislator Pravin Zantye said that even students who complete their graduation are not employable because they are not prepared for the demands of the industry.

Sawant said that the issue would be tackled jointly through counselling as well as compulsory aptitude tests for students.

“Both concepts if we implement correctly then each student will be able to choose his career correctly and the problem that we face right now of unemployment, of an engineer applying for a clerk’s post will not happen,” Sawant said.

Goa appointed counsellers in schools nearly a decade ago during the previous Congress regime to help students cope with the mental stress of adolescence as well as the pressure of studies.

Goa has 18,110 students enrolled at the Std X level but at the higher secondary level the number drops to 17,237.