The whole country is lacking 70,000 psychological counselors.
Faced with the new impacts of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution on all areas of life, industries are required to transform and school psychology consulting and counseling is no exception to the impact of this revolution.
Sharing at the international conference "Training school counselors in the context of 4.0", Dr. Tran Thanh Nam said:
"The impact of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution forces us to think of psychological counseling models that use technological advances and high-tech applications.
For example, online consultation, online skills training courses, using software to connect consultations on social networks...
However, the online consultation model also has many difficulties, Mr. Nam emphasized, consultants will have to think more about the information security mechanism or ensuring the rights of clients when participating in consultation work.
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| Dr. Tran Thanh Nam believes that teachers of any subject cannot be selected to work as school psychology consultants. Photo: Yen Duong |
To ensure human resources for school psychology counseling while "waiting" for the generation of bachelors and masters in school psychology from universities, according to Dr. Tran Thanh Nam, it is necessary to carefully consider when choosing teachers to take on counseling positions in high schools.
“I think it is impossible to choose teachers of any subject to do school psychology counseling work.
Because in the position of school psychologists they must have special skills, work according to special principles and they must also have a somewhat more independent position compared to the team of teachers and school leaders.
Because only then can we protect the interests of all parties as well as create trust for stakeholders such as students or teachers to share the real stories behind them," Dr. Nam emphasized.
It is known that according to survey data of the Ministry of Education and Training in Hanoi and Hai Duong, about 80% of students have problems that need to be shared and want a private space at school to talk about and find solutions to their problems.
An epidemiological study in 7 northern provinces by officials from the University of Education (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) also showed that about 20% of students have mental health damage to the point of requiring therapeutic intervention.
Sharing at the workshop, Dr. Bui Van Linh - Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Political Education and Student Affairs (Ministry of Education and Training) said:
The Ministry's view on psychological counseling is to require at least 90% of high schools, intermediate schools, colleges, and universities to establish counseling departments to support students in order to provide comprehensive education, capacity, and qualities for them.
According to Mr. Linh, the physical and mental health of students must be given special attention. If life pressures are not consulted and handled promptly, they can lead to consequences: mild ones include boredom, poor academic performance, and possibly school violence. Severe ones include depression and even suicide.
“We must learn from South Korea and Japan, we try not to fall into the same trap as these countries when young people suffer from depression and the suicide rate among young people is very high.
Students are under pressure to achieve results from their parents and social influences, while their life skills and problem-solving skills are still weak,” said Mr. Linh.
Also according to Dr. Bui Van Linh, Circular 31 of the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates that each school will have a psychological counseling team for students.
This consulting team is headed by the principal or at least a vice principal. The members, depending on their conditions, abilities, and capacities, range from 3 to 7 people. All participating teachers must have a certificate of training in psychological counseling.
During the remaining time of 2018, we can flexibly create conditions for teachers, but after that, all participating teachers must be trained according to the standard training program and be granted certificates.
"Currently, the number of junior high and high schools nationwide is about 14,000 schools. So, if each school has a counseling team of 5 people/school, it means we are lacking 70,000 teachers to advise and counsel students," said Mr. Linh.
At the same time, Clause b, Article 9 of Circular 16/2017/TT-BGDDT also clearly stipulates:
“Teachers who are part-time student counselors: Primary schools with 28 or more classes in midlands, plains, and cities, and 19 or more classes in mountainous, remote, and island areas are allowed to use 6 periods per week; schools with 27 or fewer classes in midlands, plains, and cities, and 18 or fewer classes in mountainous, remote, and island areas are allowed to use 3 periods per week to perform student counseling tasks.
Secondary schools and high schools with 28 or more classes in midlands, plains, and cities, and 19 or more classes in mountainous, remote, and island areas are allowed to use 8 periods per week;
From 27 classes or less in midlands, plains, and cities, from 18 classes or less in mountainous, remote, and island areas, 04 periods per week are used to perform student counseling tasks;”…
From there, Mr. Bui Van Linh said that educational psychology training schools must be responsible for: Training human resources, providing experts, researching and advising on other policies; researching and establishing psychological counseling centers in the community to handle severe cases (about 5%).
Consulting content includes: Consulting on studying, health, relationships, how to handle situations; equipping life skills; educating life values...
As for the management agency, the Ministry of Education and Training will develop a Circular stipulating a code of conduct; and direct training for key personnel in charge of psychological counseling work in localities./.
