National Convention of School Counsellors

ON February 6, 2014 Mrs. Sonia Mojumdar attended the National Convention of School Counsellors organized by the Institute of Counsellor Training Research and Consultancy ( ICTRC) on ' Managing Academic Problems in a Changing Socio-Educational Scenario at the India International Centre.

Chaired by eminent psychologist and educationist, Dr. V.S Ravindran, the convention was addressed by Prof. R.K Saraswat, Prof. Nikhil Sinha, Prof. R Rajkumar, Dr.Bennett E. Mc Clellan, among others. The core issues which got highlighted are as follows. ** Need for Academic Integrity - Any institute under it's broad umbrella involves a number of components viz. management, teachers, students and parents. These components adhere to each other through trust, honesty, fairness, respect and responsibility. Dr. Ravindran elaborated on the Aristotelian idea - " Integrity is a habit of the mind" . ** Academic Problems- The most important problem surrounds the issue of motivating students towards academia. Similarly , the most impending challenge for any organisation is to successfully implement Inclusive Education. ** Academic Excellence- According to Prof. Nikhil Sinha, IAS, "Excellence is an art perfected by habituation". Therefore, students can be trained in excellence through a commitment to learning, development of problem- solving abilities and an ability to convey ideas with clarity and style. ** Counselling- Counselling is a must both for students and parents. Schools should go beyond academics and equip students with social skills as education is preparation for life. Dr. Ravindran drew the curtain over the convention by announcing with a lot of conviction that " the next revolution will be by educators." He re-affirmed the notion that schools have the grave responsibility of nurturing the building blocks of the future for a nation. The invigorating session prompted all delegates to put on their thinking caps and take back with them a vision and motivation to surge ahead.