Reaching out to help
How a school guidance counsellor reaches out and supports students who miss classes during the pandemic.
Sonam Tobgay has been a school guidance counsellor for eight years. The school guidance counsellor of Samdrupjongkhar Middle Secondary School says that unlike the cases he dealt with in the past such as bahavioural and substance abuse issues, this year, he saw mental health issues among his students.
“With COVID-19, children are stressed and confused. Today, a majority of students have academic stress due to online classes and problems of participation,” he says.
While he is seeing more issues among girl students from grades 9 and 10, he says that the problems children face vary by their situation. “Some are not getting time to study because they have to attend to household chores and look after their younger siblings. Mobile data was an issue. They are worried about missing their lessons and not being promoted to the next grade. And performing students are worried about their ranks.”
Sonam says grade 10 students have board examinations coming up and students tell him that the online classes were not enough. “They feel the difference of being in a classroom and attending classes online.”
The opening and closure of schools has troubled children, he says. A client he has been working with remains undecided to continue her studies after she initially agreed to continue studying.
“It was a success at one time. She had decided to discontinue her studies but after talking to her, she agreed to stay in school,” he says. “But later she decided to drop school.”
The 16 year- old girl student lives with her guardian and feels unsupported. She was missing classes and that was how the school guidance counsellor reached out to her. “I talked to her guardian and things improved. I suggested she gets admitted to a boarding school.”
She had just joined the new school when the COVID -19 pandemic scare closed schools across the country. “She had family issues during her time at home and then decided to drop school,” Sonam says. “She needs motivation and family support. The situation has improved but it is still a work in progress.”
*Photo used in the story is only for illustration purposes.
