“Counselling has an important role to play in attracting and retaining candidates for skill-based training programme like DDU-GKY”. Candidates in DDU-GKY do come from a rural area where the counselling need be done in a systematic way so that they can decide what they are capable of, what are the options available and what is suitable for them.
During a visit in Training Centre of M/s Vinayak Education Society, dated 05th of February 2020, one of the PIA of Assam implementing DDU-GKY project, I have counselled some candidates of the batch before freezing date. During the session, I have counselled the candidates regarding the benefits of the program and also regarding the opportunities after getting trained. The Domain Trainer explained about the industry and the situations they may face after getting placed in the Industries.
I have also experienced that many times candidates get dropped out or there are many candidates who do have less than 75% of attendance during the training period. A professional counsellor is required to counsel the candidates to motivate and also to help the candidates to deal with psychological and other issues they may face, so that they may continue the training and also avoid themselves from getting dropped out.
Therefore, to tackle all these situations a PIA may hire a professional counsellor, which will help the candidates to retain not only during training but also after placement. A counsellor must counsel the candidates in a way that the candidates can visualize that what are the situations they are about to face during training and also after the placement.
Feedback of the candidates after attending the session:
During interaction with the candidates, it was found that all the candidates were not aware of the features of DDUGKY program and also about the domain that they had opted, however after counselling session candidates were more enthusiast to undergo training.
Author: Dikshit Thapa
A development professional, working as a Project Officer in NIRDPR.
