 Our teachers in a position to provide counseling. We have been talking about the role of teacher as a guide and the role of teacher as a counsellor. But we need to determine whether teachers can act as counsellors in the classroom. Now teachers have various roles to play. Their prime role is to teach a specific lesson plan and deliver the learning outcomes. However, what we need to determine and what we need to see is that can teachers emerge as counsellors in the classrooms as well. Now if you look at the tradition of being a teacher, a teacher is not just somebody who gives information. Teacher jo hai wo sirf or sirf information provider nahi hota. Teacher has an enormous role to play in a classroom. Jisme jo hai wo social issues, behavioural issues, academic issues, in sub issues par baat karna, bahes karna aur masail ko hal karna teacher ki zemindari samja jaata hai. To agar hum formally teacher ko as a guide and a counsellor lain to wo halat nahoga. Kyunke traditionally speaking a teacher has been solving various issues in the classroom. Whether being trained or not. However, if a teacher enters a classroom with proper professional training, then a teacher can play a very effective role in the classroom as a counsellor as well. Because a teacher is set out to be the best counsellor for the students. Why? Because teachers and students are in constant rapport with each other. At the same time, students and teachers are in constant interaction with each other. So a teacher is the best possible guide and counsellor for students. Iske liye jo personal problems hai students ki, wo teachers bhetar toor par hal kar sakte hain, benefit counsellors ke jinn ka interaction jo hai wo students ke saath itna zyada nahi hota. Zyada interaction jo hai wo bahar hal ek teacher ka hi hota hai. Isliye ye jaana aur ye samajna zaroori hai ke formally aur informally. Teachers jo hain wo bahar hal counselling services provite kar rahe hota hain. Aur usme jo hain wo jo hain bilkul appropriate position mein hota hain to formally emerge as the counsellors of their own students. Isme jo cheez bohot ahim hai wo ye hai ke classroom mein kaha kaha par counselling services ke zaroorat ho sakte hai. Iske determination agar kar li jaaye aur teachers jo hain wo proper li jo hain wo tayar hoon ye karne ke liye. To wo hain par jo masail hain wo baku bhi hal kiya jaa sakta hai. Lekin agar teachers jo hain wo ye hi samaj lein ke hamne sirf for sirf pahana hain. Hamara kaam jo hain wo tadri si masail dekhna aur hal karna hain. To wo hain paar phir wo they will shy away from being counsellors. But if they realise their roles fully and if they understand that they are counsellors as well formally or informally. They have to act as counsellors and for that proper training is definitely required. And wo hain paar jab a professional development exercises krte hain to wo hain paar teachers being counsellors jo hain uspar bhi baat karna jo hain wo bohot ahim ho jaati hai. Aur iske saath saath teachers jo hain jab counsellors ke toor paar samne aate hain. To wo hain paar aisi bohot si ravaayaat hain jinn ko barkara rakhna hota hain aur aisi bohot se masail hain jinn ka hul teacher ko khut talaash karna hota hain. Durane tadris agar koi asa masila aagaya hain jiska taluk directly akademic se nahin hain. To wo hain paar phii teacher kya karenge? Kya wo ap continuity ko break karenge? Kya wo apna lesson pahana ban karenge? And they will rush to a counsellor to solve a behavioural issue? Ya wo ye koshish karenge ke wo issue jo hain wo khut solve karenge? To agar teachers jo hain they are mentally prepared to do so, to wo hain paar masila ka hul jaldi talaash kar liya jata hain. Jitna akshi tara hul classroom ke andar talaash kya jaa sakta hain wo bahar talaash kya nahin kya jaa sakta hain. Jab aap kisi bahar se kisi ki help leinge, to wo sakta hain ke baat ko samajne me der lagin aur masila ka hul thodi der ke liye barkara rahin. Dikin agar teacher betar towar paar apne students ko samaj raha hain to wo hain paar masila ka jo hul hain ko classroom ke andar hi talaash kya jaata hain. To wo hain paar good teachers jo hain they are habitually trained to solve their classroom issues. They do not seek outside help. They do it on their own. They can manage things on their own. To wo hain paar teachers jo hain agar wo samajne hain that they are counsellors to wo khut ba khut apne masila ka hul talaash karte hain. And that is something which is required in the classroom. Teachers should not go out very often to seek solutions for their classroom problems. If they realise their roles as counsellors, then they would try to solve the classroom-based problems themselves. The classroom-based problems can be many-fold. They can be academic in nature. They can be social in nature. They can be behavioural in nature. But if the teacher is ready to manage things, then teachers can emerge as very powerful counsellors in the classrooms. Hindrance is for teachers in providing counselling services. When we determine that teachers can emerge as good counsellors in the classroom, then we also have to see the problems associated with them. Many teachers want to act as counsellors as well and want to help out students. However, there are many problems that do not allow them to do so. So let's look at some of the hindrances that may come as a result of teachers trying to become counsellors. First of all, the important thing is time. Time is a big factor. Our teachers in schools and colleges and universities, they are constrained by time. Time is a big factor. Because a counsellor takes so much time that it becomes difficult to talk, argue, and find a solution to the problem. Teachers are overwhelmed with the kind of routine that they have to follow in the institutions. The work of the counsellors is so much that they are forced to pay attention to other things. However, time can be managed in any way. However, one of the hindrances that comes to light is the aspect of time. When the school year starts, any grade level starts, the teacher's responsibilities are so much that when you talk to them about counselling, they either refuse to do so, or they say that they don't have the ability to do so. Along with that, time restriction is a huge factor. There is no doubt that it is a huge factor. By keeping the time factor in front of you, you can neither talk to social issues, nor properly manage them. If the time is given to the flexibility teachers, then they may find a solution to the problem. However, it is difficult for time-bound teachers to handle behavioural issues and to work on the issues of long-term students, social issues, and behavioural psychological issues. So, we need to pay attention to how flexibility can be created in time. How teachers can take out time for counselling. Because we have determined that teachers are the best counsellors for students. They are able to manage their students very well because they know them the best. However, due to the time factor, teachers become helpless. Along with that, how do teachers divide their time? Teachers have to achieve their academic targets. That is their prime responsibility. They have to teach, they have to assess, and they have to submit a final grade for the student. The best part of their school takes care of the time factor. And this is their responsibility. When you have to meet academic targets, then all the attention of the teacher is lost here. And talking about other issues is impossible for them. Along with this, lesson planning is teachers' responsibility. When teachers make a lesson plan and they have to develop quarterly lesson plans, that is also a time-consuming factor. And that again emerges as a hindrance towards giving time to other areas, other issues in education. Along with this, formative and summative assessment teachers are required. These are all academic targets that the teachers have to achieve in a year. So they have to test and assess the students regularly, formatively and summatively. So there again, time factor does not give them enough time to fight over other issues. Along with this, they have to compile reports. They have to make student's result cards. Along with this, they have to engage students in particular activities for which proper planning is necessary. Hindrance is for teachers in providing counselling services. We have seen that teachers are short of time and that is why they cannot emerge as counsellors. At the same time, teachers have to grapple with huge numbers in the classrooms. So the number of audience becomes a factor, which basically means how many students are in the classroom. How many students are in one class. This determines how frequently teachers can talk to students on one-on-one basis. We saw that the children of a small community, from toddlers to, for example, class 3, are usually limited to students. There, teachers can communicate better with students in a better and more efficient way. Because the number is less. And in small classes, assistant teachers are also provided with some time provisions. So where more than one teacher deals with one class for a year, then the children's identity becomes better there. Their educational issues, their social issues, their psychological issues, their behavioral issues, all these issues are in front of the teachers and the teachers can manage them better. But as the class size increases, the student-teacher interaction becomes less and less. It is not a happy thing, but it is a part of structural problems. Because the student numbers are not determined by teachers. The student number is determined by the administrative staff. And the students who come to the classroom, sometimes their number increases. And the number increases, the student-teacher-social interaction becomes less. So we should think about this when we are talking about a classroom, then what is a manageable number? How much number should be in the class? The teachers can manage it better. Even the administrative staff and the counselling services should be provided. Generally, it is said that 25 is a good number. If the class is of 25 students, then that is a manageable number for the teacher to handle. And generally, when it comes to grade 3, because the teachers are managing the classes, 25 is a good number in which the administrative staff can handle it. Along with that, teachers can also focus on the other issues. But generally, it is not possible. Because in middle school and senior school, the number of students increases, the student-teacher-interaction becomes less. When this happens, then the counselling services cannot be provided. They cannot be given because the teachers interact less and less at a social level. Because the purpose of the teachers is the implementation of the lesson plan. They have to meet their targets. And teaching targets meet them in a class of an hour. That is a big challenge. And sometimes, the class duration is 40 minutes. When this happens, then the counselling services become more difficult. Unless a teacher tries it on her own and decides to meet students outside the classroom at any time. The classroom is not a part of the activity. If a teacher decides to do that, then that is her own will. That is her own willingness to do so. But if the teacher is not doing this and they are overwhelmed in terms of finishing their academic targets, then counselling services are jeopardised. Then a teacher cannot maintain a social relationship with the students. That is a very matter of fact, a very routine activity where the teachers and the students talk about the educational issues. And if we say that if any student has an academic issue, then it is possible that the relationship between an academic issue is attached to a social or a psychological issue. So until the student knows that and if the teacher does not have time or the class size is so big that she cannot give time, then it is difficult to find a way to solve the problem. That is why this has again emerged out as a big hindrance towards the development of the teacher as a counsellor. Hindrance is for teachers to become counsellors in schools. We have been looking at different hindrances and one of the hindrances that needs to be given importance to is teacher training. The professional development of teachers. How much time is allocated in a school year for the professional development of teachers with the special focus on teachers as counsellors. Now this is something that needs to be given special attention because professional counselling services are related to the teacher's life. Teachers if we say that as counsellors they should come in front of them, then that is a skill to be learnt. This is true that traditionally speaking teachers do act as counsellors they do solve the issues in the classroom however they need to touch upon it in a very professional manner which basically means that they need to get proper training to do so. Now the question is how much training is provided to the teachers. In a school year in one year time how much professional training is given to the teachers in terms of they being good guides and counsellors in the classroom. Because counselling is attached to teaching. When you are studying you also need to do counselling. So counselling can be done properly when you have its training when you develop proper skills in it. For this the responsibility of the schools is to give teachers such opportunities such opportunities to polish these skills and they emerge as better counsellors in the classroom. For this the schools can establish more activities within their schools. For example regular training programs when you make your yearly calendar you must keep such pockets in which teachers' professional development can be done regularly. If you have time table divided then in one quarter how many trainings can you keep for teachers. Where can you give them breathing space so that they can concentrate on their training and work on their skill development. Along with this along with training how much support is being given to them. If you tell teachers that you study 5-6 classes a day and attend a training program then this is a little too much because a teacher works whole heartedly in a school for a day and after school he or she has to go to attend a training program. That becomes a very lengthy affair. It is better to give teachers in-house support and such support teachers should be in a school which can deliver the lesson plan properly and teachers should return with skill-based training. You need to provide that cushioning space to the teachers so that they can invest in their own professional development. Sometimes teachers do want to professionally develop themselves however they are not supported by the schools. So in-house support is absolutely important. We must provide the required support to the teachers because if we don't then the status quo will continue. Routine teaching and learning will continue and this is not what we want if we want students to develop. If we want schools to develop for this it is necessary that you provide in-house support to the teachers. After that the flexible timing peer interaction that is also something very important. How much are teachers interacting with each other? Are they sharing their notes with each other? Again, that is something which is absolutely important. The sense of collegiality is very important. We must share notes with each other. We must reflect on our practices by sitting together and that is how we learn from each other. So how much provision is provided in the school to do so? Staff rooms should become active forums for discussions, student-led discussions for example and teacher-led discussions. We also need students to be involved in providing counseling services. Teachers should also try to take proper training on counseling services. Staff rooms can become active forums to do so. So here the need for this and the need for this action is how we can use these things properly in the school. If we don't do so then the counseling services are lost. We should try to use the counseling services but for that to support teachers, to train them professionally and to share collegiality with teachers and to sit together and discuss these things are very important. So professional support is very important and that actually builds the professional capacity of the teachers so that they can provide good and ample counseling services in the classroom.