In a first, JU to carry out counselling of school teachers

Kolkata: The Centre for Counselling Services and Studies in Self Development at Jadavpur University will carry out counselling of school teachers for the first time ever.

The counselling will be held for teachers of Udaypur Hardayal Nag Adarsha Vidyalaya in Belgharia, through a certificate course that will start from March. Students from that school and also schools from the neighbouring area will be enrolled in the course as well.

"A few months ago we received a proposal from the headmaster of the Belgharia school for counselling their teachers. We placed the proposal at the proper forum for necessary approval and now we are starting a certificate course on Counselling and Stress Management. The module is being worked out. 30-40 teachers are likely to join this course," said Samar Kumar Mondal, joint coordinator of the Centre and a professor of the Philosophy department at JU.

In another major development, the Centre will soon start counselling of selected inmates from three central correctional homes in the state, namely Dum Dum, Presidency and Baruipur.

The Centre will be holding workshops on March 11, 12 and 13 in presence of two experts from National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) and representative from Mental Health Foundation, to finalise the approach for the inmates' counselling.

The Centre has plans to hold counselling sessions twice a week for the inmates and hopes to start them soon. The Centre at JU that had started its journey in 2014, offers a two-year post graduate diploma course in Counselling and Stress Management.

There are four semesters and in the third one, those pursuing the course are made to do field internship in state government hospitals like Calcutta Medical College and NRS Medical College. The Centre has also forwarded internship proposal to the Institute Of Psychiatry, Kolkata.

Apart from the PG diploma course, the Centre is presently carrying out a 6 month certificate course on Basic Skills of Counselling & Stress Management for students of Ramkrishna Sarada Mission Vivekananda Vidyabhavan, Dum Dum and advanced certificate course in Basic skills of Psychological Counselling for students of Basanti Devi College.

The Centre also holds workshops of shorter duration for school and college students as per demand. It is regularly engaged in psychological counselling of students, teachers and non-teaching staff of the university.

There is a psychological counsellor and a clinical psychologist associated with the Centre. "A doctor visits the Centre every Monday and prescribes medicines as and when necessary," Mondal said.