For helping students: Bengal to start career counselling training for teachers of madrassas

KOLKATA: The Directorate of Madrasah Education is all set to start career counselling training for its teachers, who in turn will handhold the students in pursuing the right career path.

"We have found that even the bright students get confused when it comes to pursuing the right career options. The parents also have a stereotype idea regarding career pursuits.

However, there is a plethora of career options, including a lot of vocational and skill training programmes that can ensure a good career option. The teachers, who have undergone counselling will be sitting with the students of class XI and XII once in a week and ensure that they develop a clear idea of future study course and hence can carve out a career," a senior official of the Directorate of Madrasah Education said.

The counselling programme would start in June and the Directorate has set a target of training 200 teachers, 2 each from 100 madrasahs during the month.

"Our aim is to start counselling of the students from the month of July with these 200 trained teachers. We already have an expert team of 15 odd teachers in career counselling who will be joining the students' counselling programme whenever they have time," Abid Hussain, state Director of Madrasah Education said.During the COVID-19 pandemic period, these teachers had personally attended the students of their respective schools through telecalling to ensure that they do not suffer from any sort of mental or psychological programme after being forced not to attend school for nearly two years.

The department of Madrasah Education has laid special emphasis to ensure that individual benefits like books, exercise books, scholarship and similar facilities reach the students in a proper manner so that enrolment is not affected by any means.

As the schools reopened after a gap of about two years due to COVID-19, it was found that over 10 per cent of the students from class IX to XIIth standard had dropped out.

Presently, there are 582 madrasahs across the state with 479 having smart class facilities.

The department will have such facilities in 100 more madrasahs this year.