The Ashanti Regional branch of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has organized a workshop to train all school-based guidance and counseling coordinators on the proper way to deal with students with special needs.
The workshop provided the participants with the necessary knowledge on the qualities of a counselor to assist students and also equipped them with the basic skills and techniques to help solve everyday challenges faced by students.
The training, which was held on Thursday, May 30, 2024, at GNAT Hall, brought major resource persons in the guidance and counseling sectors of GES, who took the participants through numerous presentations.
Speaking to OTEC News reporter Jacob Agyenim Boateng at the sidelines of the event, the Head of the Guidance and Counseling Unit at the Ashanti Region, Faustina Anyamesem Poku, said it was time for students and parents to embrace counseling, noting that many students are likely to shun counselors and take uninformed decisions in turbulent times.
She further noted that guidance and counseling assist educational and training institutions to have well-motivated pupils and students who take responsibility for their own learning and set their own goals for achievement.
For his part, the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Kwame Amankra Appiah, commended the Guidance and Counseling Unit for the workshop.
He said guidance and counseling are regarded as a lifelong process that reorganizes all student needs and focuses not only on career development and labor integration but also on social, emotional, religious, and psychological needs.
According to him, it helps to build confidence and empower individuals, as well as make people aware of new career possibilities, learning opportunities, and work opportunities, and promote a balance of life and work.