PHOTO: Guidance Counselors take off for Liberia’s 15 Counties
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
The Liberian government through the Ministry of Education has begun the deployment of 200 guidance counselors to high schools throughout the 15 counties, Minister Ansu Sonii has disclosed in Monrovia.
For the first time, the guidance counseling program is being introduced to public schools nationwide, as guidance counselors are already recommending distribution of condoms to students to curb the spread of teenage pregnancy.
The program making the deployment of the newly employed guidance counselors was held at a local hotel at the weekend with the support of the World Bank.
Prof. Ansu Sonii
Speaking at the ceremony, Education Minister, Dr. Ansu Sonii said the the 200 guidance counselors are being given resettlement benefits and other packages.
He cautioned them against carelessness, because they are assigned mainly to report on the conduct of students and teachers who are exhibiting bad habits because they are introducing a new structure in the educational system.
He also warned public school authorities against charging extraordinary fees for registration apart from the amount stipulated by the ministry.
According to him, the Education Ministry has received information of several schools using the parents, teachers associations as springboard for charging extra fees for registration.
Prof. Sonii admonished the guidance counselors to live by the virtues of guidance counselor by always appearing modestly, and being fearless in the discharge of their duties as well as achieving the aim of the program for girls to remain in schools.
“You must be able to exercise good judgment as guidance counselors because you have yourselves to blame because your body will suffer. Some of you may not be of the same cultural back ground with people you will be meeting there,” the Education Minister added.
For his part, the Assistant Education Minister for Students Personnel Services, Tarnue Gbogolie commended Minister Soni for the pressure mounted on them to achieve the completion of the recruitment of the 200 guidance counselors.
According to him, some of the guidance counselors recommended the distribution of condoms to students so as to curb the spread of diseases and teenage pregnancy.
As a part of the preparing the guidance counselors for their herculean taxes, each of them will be one lap top computer and a resettlement package of 500 United States Dollars
According to the Education Ministry, the training, the purchase of computers to each of the guidance counselors and the 500 United States Dollars given each of them were made available through the funding provided by the World Bank.