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Guidance and Counseling

Notes (iii) The need of guidence is not universal.
(iv) Guidance can reduce the wastage of educational facilities in India.

3.2 Types of Need in Guidance

The need for guidance had existed at all times. Moreover, the need of guidance is universal. It is as
old as man himself. It is based upon the fact that all human beings need help in one way or other
way. “There is hardly any individual who does not need help”. Jones has rightly said, “Every one
needs assistance at sometime in his life. Some will need constantly and thoughout their entire life,
while others need it only at rare intervals at times of great crisis. There always have been and will
continue to be people with an occasional need for the help of the older or more experienced associates
in meeting problem situation.”But there is a greater need for guidance services now than ever
before due to the rapid advancement in technology, emerging of new world order, social change,
globalisation, liberalisation, the need for outstanding leadership, a shift in standards of morality
and integrity, people’s high aspirations etc. all contribute to the need for guidance programme in
the schools. We shall discuss the need for guidance in India under four heads :

1. Educational Needs: Guidance is needed from educational point of view because of the following
reasons :
(i) Increase in the range of individual differences among school going children: Before
independence, boys and girls in our country came to school only from the more privileged
section of the society. The admission in the schools was selective. But after independence
due to realization of Constitutional Directive of providing free and compulsory education
up to 14 years of age. education for all and the drive for mass education, we find our schools
are flooded with children from every section of society. The classes are over-crowded and
there is a tremendous increase in the number of schools too. The result is that we find much
wider range of individual differences in the abilities, aspirations and achievement of the
pupils. Understanding of the differential needs and abilities of the children is essential for
modifying the school programme for the best possible unfoldment of the student’s
potentialities. This is possible only through the introduction of guidance services in our
school programmes.
(ii) Guidance as an Instrument for the Qualitative Improvement of Education: There has been
a rapid expansion of educational facilities to cater to the needs of increasing number of
children in recent years. This has resulted to some extent in the fall of educational standards.
Consequently, there is a great need of providing guidance services in the school for the
qualitative improvement of education.
(iii) Knowledge Explosion or the increase in the types of courses offered in the schools: The
domain of knowledge is like the number of wishes. The increased knowledge is creeping
into the course contents of our textbooks. It is not possible for every student to learn all that
is available in the field of knowledge. Single track education for all is out-moded concept. At
the secondary stage, the courses of studies have been diversified to include several optional
groups. Therefore, a special type of service is badly needed in our schools which will assist
the individual pupil in the choice of course suiting to his needs and abilities that will help
the school authorities in the proper allocation of the diversified courses to the pupils of the
school.

(iv) Expanding Educational Objectives: Everyone talks today about the all round development
of the child through education. We want a type of education that can provide for the
development of the whole child. It is now commonly accepted that education should also
lead to the promotion of the emotional, social and civic life of the student. Problems of social
adjustment and personality orientation require the services of a competent counselor and
availability of appropriate guidance services.

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