Student Counselling services in the tertiary education sector: Challenges in a developing country

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Student Counselling services in the tertiary
education sector Challenges in a developing
country

• Elmarie van der Walt
• SSCSA
• Student Counselling, CPUT

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Presentation

• SSCSA
• Student Counselling
• Higher Education sector
• Career Counselling in a developing country
• Student Counselling and career development
  services

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Society for Student Counselling in Southern
Africa (SSCSA)

• (The Role of Student Counselling , Career and
  Development Services in HE www.sscsa.org.za)
• The SSCSA strives to promote and protect the
  interests of the student counselling profession
  and to develop and monitor the delivery of
  counselling and development services at
  institutions for higher and further education in
  Southern Africa
• Through
• Guideline documents, the provision of a Quality
  Assurance programme, facilitating training and
  networking between members through for example
  annual conferences and regional activities

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Student Counselling

• Student Counselling services offer a wide range
  of comprehensive counselling, career and
  development services aimed at empowering students
  in all their major transition phases related to
  HE
• Core services focus on
• Promotion of wellness
• Prevention via assisting students to identify
  and enhance skills in order to achieve
  educational and life skills and thereby
  contibuting to graduate throughput
• Providing guidance, counselling / therapy re
  personal adjustment, vocational, developmental
  and / or psychological problems

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Student Counselling Services

• Services provided by Student Counselling and
  Development Units normally include
• Psychotherapy / Counselling
• Career counselling and information
• Academic / learning skills development
• Life skills development / Training (incl. Peer
  Helping)
• Consultancy and advocacy
• Graduate placement / First year destination
• At risk and exclusion management (including
  assessment, placement and RPL)
• Outreach
• Research

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Changing landscape of Tertiary Education Sector
in SA

• Education White Paper (1997) and the National
  Plan for Higher Education (2001)
• The transformation in HE must reflect, and be
  part of, the transformation taking place in the
  broader South African context
• HE must address the legacy of the past as well as
  the needs of a Knowledge Society by providing
  skilled and trained graduates that can enter the
  labour market and benefit society
• HE, within a developing country, must marry
  global and domestic needs

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Changing landscape of Tertiary Education Sector
in SA

• Some of the implications for HE
• Diversified student population
• Non-traditional learners (black, female, mature,
  students with disabilities, etc)
• Emphasis on equity of access and outcomes
• Sensitive selection criteria and incorporation of
  RPL
• Student support, Foundation / bridging programmes
• Focus on science, engineering and technology

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Changing landscape of Tertiary Education Sector
in SA

• (Implications continued)
• Diversified course / career programmes, with
  multiple / multi-layered exit levels
• Expanding post graduate programmes
• Massification / Extending HE provision
• Distance education Private institutions
• Mergers
• New funding formula

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Changing landscape of Tertiary Education Sector
in SA

• Specific reference to student support services
  (Student Counselling and career guidance) in the
  White Paper, 1997
• Student support services, with specific reference
  to career guidance, is essential (2.32)
• Student support services should be developed as a
  mainstream programme (2.33)
• Student support services is also a major
  requirement in distance education and
  resource-based learning (2.60)
• The DoE is envisaging a National HE Information
  and Administration Service that would also
  provide career guidance, including information on
  labour trends (2.75)

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Career counselling in a developing country

• (Liebenberg Jassat Maree Ebersöhn)
• Career counselling has evolved beyond matching
  the individual with the world of work
• Complex interplay of career and psychosocial
  concerns
• Increased emphasis on
• Client
• Process
• Lifespan development / Life long learning

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Career counselling in a developing country
South African context

• Past conditions
• Political, social and economic conditions
• Current conditions
• Unemployment
• Entrepreneurship
• Informal sector
• Globalisation (Def)
• Internationalisation (Def)
• Lack of career guidance at school level / FETC
• Developing country Two fold agenda
• Reconstruction and development ? globalisation

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Career counselling in a developing country

• (Watts Fretwell)
• Distinctive issues faced by middle-income
  countries, that needs to be considered during
  career counselling
• Limited public resources
• Poverty and unemployment
• Informal economy
• Community capacity building
• Importance of family structures
• Emigration
• Cultural factors

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Implications for Student Counselling staff

• Requires an increased range of skills
• Developing a therapeutic relationship
• Knowledge of current theory
• Understanding current trends in the world of work
• Training in multi-cultural issues
• Ethics
• New approach to assessment / techniques
• Supervision - Making use of peer helpers
• Working with individuals and groups

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Student Counselling and Career development
services

• Student Counselling is integral to the academic
  venture of an institution of higher learning
• All its services are therefore linked to the
  career path / development (school-to-work
  transition) of the students,and prospective
  students, it serves
• Services are interlinked and also done in
  partnerships with other stakeholders like the
  faculties, academic support services,
  co-operative learning (UT), e-learning, etc
• Keep in mind Vulnerable student population

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Student Counselling and Career development
services

• Students (Also refer to other services)
• Career counselling
• Placement assessment and risk management
• Skills Portfolio management, CV writing,
  interviewing, job-hunting, decision making, etc
• Mentoring (Peer helping, US alumni programme)
• Graduate placement First year destination
  projects
• Prospective students / applicants
• Pre-admission sessions Information sessions
• Placement assessment and Feedback
• Career Counselling

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Student Counselling and Career development
services

• Public
• Participation in Open / Career exhibition days
• Addressing schools / parents (institution)
• Community Outreach
• Training for NGOs, etc
• Talks
• Workshops (e.g. Teachers training)
• Resources Venues
• Assessment
• Information

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Summary of important aspects / Discussion

• Co-ordination of services
• Training and registration of counsellors
• Reaching vulnerable student population
• Resources
• Methods of assessment (test and match)
• Expectation of clients / re-education

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Bibliography / Acknowledgements

• Jassat, M. Liebenberg, M. 2002 Career
  Counselling Self-Efficacy A Survey of South
  African Student Counsellors Presented at SSCSA
  Annual Conference
• Maree, K Ebersöhn, L (Ed) 2002. Life skills
  and career counselling. Heinemann Publishers,
  Sandowne
• SSCSA Document, Compiled by Beekman, A.W. 2001
  The role of Student Counselling, Career and
  Development services in Higher Education
• Van der Walt, L, Bolsmann, C, Johnson, B
  Martin, L. Final Report for CHET 2002
  Globalisation and the Outsourced University in
  South Africa The restructuring of the support
  services in publicsector universities in South
  Africa, 1994-2001.
• Watts, AG Fretwell, DH, World Bank discussion
  Paper, 2003, Public Policies for Career
  Development
• www.chet.org.za
• www.education.pwv.gov.za
• www.sscsa.org.za
• Anne Short, Career Development programme,
  University of Cape Town
• Elisabet Smit, Student Counselling, Cape
  Peninsula University of Technology
• Lineo Vikazi, Guidance and Counselling Unit,
  University of Swaziland