Schools to appoint two counsellors from next academic session: CBSE

SChools attached to the exchange room of Secondary breeding (CBSE) testament have to appoint two professional counsellors to ensure socio-emotional well-being of students as well as to provide them career guidance, the board announced in a circular on Monday, in a move that comes amid a surge in students suicide linked to academic pressure.In its circular, CBSE said that its governing body during a meeting on December 24 last year amended the board’s affiliation bye-laws, replacing the earlier provision that allowed a single counsellor and wellness teacher to handle all counselling-related duties. The board has mandated all affiliated schools to maintain a 1:500 counsellor-to-students ratio.“Earlier, there was only one type of counsellor who handled both social-emotional issues and career guidance duties. Now, we have introduced two distinct roles — a ‘Counselling & Wellness Teacher (Socio-Emotional Counsellor)’ and a ‘Career Counsellor’ — each with clearly defined educational qualifications,” CBSE secretary Himanshu Gupta said.“The counsellor-to-student ratio of 1:500 is in line with global standards and will allow schools to focus more effectively on students’ social-emotional well-being as well as provide structured guidance for career-related queries,” he added.CBSE-affiliated schools will be required to adhere to these norms from the next academic year, Gupta said.According to the circular, while a socio-emotional counsellor should have a bachelor or master degree in psychology or social work, or in any other subject with a diploma in school or child counselling, career guidance counsellors should possess a bachelor or master degree in streams such as humanities, science, social sciences, management, education or technology.The circular stated that “the appointed person shall possess the competencies for Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) delivery, crisis intervention, identification of mental health concerns, parent or teacher sensitisation, confidentiality etc.”Career counsellors, the circular added, are expected to have competencies in “career assessment interpretation, knowledge of higher education (India + global), research skills, student/parent career counselling, collaboration with universities or industry etc.”Welcoming the CBSE’s decision, Jyoti Arora, principal of Delhi-based Mount Abu School, said: “This move will help schools address mental health concerns proactively while also guiding students through evolving career pathways in a rapidly changing global context.”Sudha Acharya, principal of ITL Public School in Delhi’s Dwarka, said all progressive private schools have permanent school counsellors for socio emotional well-being of stakeholders and career counsellors. “It is an excellent initiative taken up by CBSE,” she added.