Key Players in Secondary Stage Guidance and Counselling in India

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When a Class 10 student in a small town in Rajasthan is unsure whether to choose science or commerce, or when a student in urban Maharashtra feels overwhelmed by board exam pressure – who steps in? In India, guidance and counselling at the secondary school stage is not left to chance. It is a structured, multi-layered system involving four key levels of governance: the Central Government (Ministry of Education), the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the National Employment Service, and the State Bureaus of Educational and Vocational Guidance. Each plays a distinct role, and together they form the backbone of organized guidance services for secondary-stage students across the country.

Table of Contents

Why secondary-stage guidance matters

The secondary stage – roughly Classes 9 through 12 – is one of the most pivotal phases in a student’s educational journey. It is a time of academic pressure, identity formation, and major life decisions around streams, careers, and further education. Research published in the Indian Educational Review (NCERT, 2019) confirms that guidance services at this stage directly improve academic performance and reduce dropout rates, bullying, and student aggression. Guidance here is not therapy – it is a developmental, ongoing process that helps students understand themselves and make informed choices.

The Education Commission of 1964-66 was among the first to formally recommend that guidance should be embedded in school systems, particularly at the secondary level, to help students identify their abilities and interests. This recommendation laid the groundwork for the organized, four-level system that exists today.

The Central Government: setting the national agenda

At the top of the structure sits the Ministry of Education, Government of India. Its role is primarily policy-driven – establishing the national framework, allocating funds, and driving centrally sponsored schemes that bring guidance services to schools across the country.

One of the most significant policy moves in this direction came through the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA, 2012), which made guidance and counselling a core component of universalizing secondary education. The scheme positioned professionally trained guidance personnel at the district, block, and school levels – a major structural shift from the earlier ad hoc approach.

More recently, in July 2023, the Department of School Education and Literacy issued fresh directives to all State and UT governments emphasizing that career counselling at secondary and senior secondary schools is of critical importance in enabling students to recognize their strengths and potential career paths. In 2024, the Ministry further collaborated with UNICEF India and NCERT to release a Career Guidance Book featuring 500 detailed career cards aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, designed to help teachers and counsellors introduce students to diverse career options early on.

The role of NEP 2020

NEP 2020 gave fresh urgency to career guidance by tying it explicitly to vocational education. The policy envisions that by 2025, at least 50% of students should have some exposure to vocational education, with access to career information and guidance services integrated across education, labour market, and community channels. This is a significant expansion of the Ministry’s ambition from earlier policies that treated guidance as a peripheral add-on.

NCERT: building the professional foundation

If the Ministry sets the direction, NCERT does the groundwork. The Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations of Education (DEPFE) within NCERT has been at the centre of India’s school guidance system since 1958, when it launched its first Post Graduate Diploma Course in Guidance and Counselling.

Today, NCERT’s Diploma Course in Guidance and Counselling is offered in a blended (distance/online plus face-to-face) mode across six centres – its National Institute of Education (NIE) in New Delhi and Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs) at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru, and Shillong. In-service teachers from Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, and state education departments participate in this one-year programme each year. Since 2009 alone, more than 1,200 personnel have been trained as teacher counsellors through this programme.

NCERT’s work goes beyond training. It develops curriculum materials, guidelines, and research on guidance needs at the secondary stage. It also tracks the status of guidance services nationwide by collecting data from states and territories through regular surveys. Its National Curriculum Framework (NCF 2005) formally advocated for a guidance-oriented approach to teaching, encouraging teachers with counselling backgrounds to design activities that address students’ academic, career, and personal-social needs.

The teacher-counsellor model

A key contribution of NCERT to Indian school guidance is the Career Teacher Model – the idea that trained classroom teachers can double as guidance functionaries within their schools. The NCERT guidelines for guidance and counselling note that this model has been widely accepted across India, given the practical challenge of deploying dedicated counsellors in every school. Trained teacher counsellors are equipped to handle academic concerns, career exploration, and personal-social development – making guidance a school-wide culture rather than a specialist silo.

The National Employment Service: connecting school to work

The National Employment Service (NES), operating under the Directorate General of Employment (DGE), Ministry of Labour and Employment, brings a labour-market perspective to the guidance ecosystem. While the Ministry of Education handles the school-system side, the NES ensures that students and job-seekers have access to accurate, up-to-date occupational information.

The DGE is responsible for the implementation of the Vocational Guidance Programme across states and union territories through a network of Employment Exchanges and Career Centres. Its mandate includes developing tools and techniques for vocational guidance, maintaining the National Classification of Occupations, and coordinating with state employment agencies to deliver guidance at the ground level.

Vocational guidance under the NES is defined as assistance to individuals in solving career planning problems, taking into account their interests, aptitude, financial background, and the current state of the employment market. This means counsellors are trained not just to talk about aspirations, but to provide students and job seekers with concrete, reality-tested information about demand and supply in the labour market.

What NES guidance looks like in practice

At the operational level, the NES delivers guidance through career talks, group guidance sessions, career conferences, and career exhibitions at schools, colleges, ITIs, and polytechnics. Career literature is prepared and distributed in regional languages to ensure students in rural areas can access occupational information. District Coordination Committees have also been formed to link the employment department’s guidance activities with state education departments – a practical example of inter-agency coordination. Special career teachers’ seminars are organized jointly with education departments so that school teachers become effective guidance points within their own institutions.

State Bureaus of Educational and Vocational Guidance: the local implementers

The fourth and perhaps most student-facing level is that of the State Bureaus of Educational and Vocational Guidance. These bureaus exist in each state and translate national policy into action on the ground. They serve as the connective tissue between the central framework and the individual student sitting in a school in a rural district.

Each state’s vocational guidance unit typically coordinates the work of Vocational Guidance units functioning in District Employment Exchanges and University Employment Information and Guidance Bureaus (UEI&GBs). These units disseminate information on job opportunities, educational courses, scholarships, and entrance examinations. They also conduct career seminars focusing on career trends, opportunities in India and abroad, and skills like interview preparation and personality development.

The state-level bureaus play a particularly important role in equity. Educational institutions in rural areas are covered on priority by vocational guidance officers because students there tend to have the least access to career information. Career literature is translated into regional languages and distributed free of cost to high schools, senior secondary schools, colleges, and public libraries – making career guidance accessible beyond urban centres.

University Employment Information and Guidance Bureaus (UEI&GBs)

UEI&GBs operate at the university level and complement the school-focused work of the state bureaus by offering career guidance and occupational information to college students. They conduct seminars on personality development and job placement, run coaching classes for competitive examinations, and provide mock interview and group discussion practice. This creates continuity in guidance services from the secondary school stage through to higher education – an often-overlooked bridge in the Indian guidance system.

How the four levels work together

The strength of India’s secondary-stage guidance system lies in its layered coordination. The Central Government sets policy and funds programmes. NCERT develops curriculum, trains professionals, and conducts research. The National Employment Service provides labour-market intelligence and vocational guidance infrastructure. State Bureaus implement everything locally, adapting to regional languages, employment realities, and school conditions.

This coordination is not merely administrative – it is essential for quality and consistency. The RMSA guidelines make clear that guidance must not be treated as a standalone instruction or a special service – it must be integrated into the school system as a continuous, developmental intervention. Every teacher is envisioned as a guidance-minded professional, with dedicated teacher counsellors anchoring the programme at the school level.

Of course, the system is not without gaps. Research from NCERT’s own follow-up studies highlights the persistent need for greater awareness about guidance services, appointment of regular (rather than ad hoc) teacher counsellors, dedicated time in school timetables, and adequate funding for guidance activities. The recommendation for separate counsellors for primary and secondary classes in both morning and evening shifts underscores how much the current system still relies on the commitment of individual teachers rather than on systematic staffing.

Despite these challenges, the four-level framework provides India with something valuable: an organized, nationally consistent structure for secondary-stage guidance that reaches students across diverse geographies, languages, and economic backgrounds – and that continues to evolve in response to both research and policy priorities like NEP 2020.

What do you think? With teacher counsellors currently filling the gap left by the shortage of dedicated school counsellors in India, do you think this model genuinely meets students’ psychological and career needs – or does it ask too much of classroom teachers? And given how different the career landscapes are in urban and rural India, how effectively do you think state bureaus are able to deliver guidance that is truly relevant to every student’s context?

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References
  1. https://ejournals.ncert.gov.in/index.php/ier/article/download/3190/3056
  2. https://samagra.education.gov.in/docs/guidelines_brc_1707.pdf
  3. https://kvd1library.wordpress.com/portfolio/career-guidance/
  4. https://www.education.gov.in/shikshakparv/docs/Background_note_vocational_education.pdf
  5. https://dge.gov.in/dge/vg
  6. https://pbemployment.punjab.gov.in/?q=vocational-guidance
  7. https://employment.kerala.gov.in/en/vocational-guidance/
  8. https://employment.kerala.gov.in/en/educational-guidance/
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Interventions in Counseling

1 Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamic Counseling

  1. Freud and Psychoanalysis
  2. Freud’s Theory of Personality
  3. Origin of Psychodynamics
  4. History of Psychodynamics
  5. Meaning of Psychodynamics
  6. Definition of Psychodynamics
  7. Freudian Psychodynamics
  8. Jungian Psychodynamics
  9. Meaning of Psychodynamic Counseling
  10. Meaning of Psychodynamic Theory
  11. Psychological Counseling
  12. Definition of Professional Counseling
  13. Counseling and Psychotherapy
  14. Classification of Counseling
  15. Goals of Counseling
  16. Principles of Counseling
  17. Steps in Counseling
  18. The Situation in Which Counseling is Required

2 Insight and Short Term Counseling

  1. Insight as a Counseling Method
  2. Definition of Insight
  3. Definition of Insight Counseling
  4. Counseling and Insight
  5. Psychoanalysis
  6. Humanistic and Existential Approach
  7. Psychodynamic Therapy
  8. Adlerian Psychology
  9. Existential Therapy
  10. Person Centered Therapy
  11. Gestalt Therapy
  12. Short Term Counseling
  13. Meaning and Definition of Brief Therapy
  14. Developments that Influenced Brief Therapies
  15. Common Aspects to Many Brief Therapies

3 Interpersonal Counseling

  1. Nature of Interpersonal Perspective
  2. Historical Background
  3. Theories and Empirical Research
  4. Minding Relationships
  5. Love
  6. Neurobiology of Interpersonal Connections
  7. Interpersonal Counseling (IPC)
  8. Goals of Interpersonal Counseling
  9. Interpersonal Therapy/ Interpersonal Psychotherapy
  10. Goals of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)
  11. Identification of Problem Areas
  12. Unresolved Grief
  13. Role Disputes
  14. Role Transitions
  15. Interpersonal Deficits
  16. Structure/Model of Interpersonal Counseling (IPC)
  17. Factors Affecting Interpersonal Counseling
  18. Important Features for Interpersonal Counseling for Counsellor
  19. Stages of Interpersonal Counseling (IPC)
  20. Counseling Techniques
  21. Practical Applications
  22. Behavioural Therapy
  23. Cognitive Therapy
  24. Interpersonal Therapy
  25. Psychotherapy
  26. Psychodynamic Counseling
  27. IPT/IPC in Special Populations
  28. Subtypes of Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
  29. Interpersonal Therapy as a Maintenance Approach (IPT-M)
  30. Interpersonal Relationship Skill

4 Counseling Children

  1. Children and Disorders
  2. Learning Disability (LD)
  3. Attention – Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  4. Anxiety Disorder
  5. Behavioural Disorders of Childhood and Adolescence
  6. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
  7. General Counseling Techniques
  8. Counseling Middle School Students
  9. Other Counseling Techniques

5 Introduction to Behaviour Modification and Cognitive Approach in Counseling

  1. Introduction to Behaviour Modification
  2. Definition of Behaviour
  3. Meaning of Behaviour Modification
  4. Principles of Behaviour Modification
  5. Steps/Procedure of Behaviour Modification
  6. Techniques of Behaviour Modification
  7. Potentials and Limitations of Behaviour Modification
  8. Introduction to Cognitive Approach
  9. Steps/Procedure in the Cognitive Therapy
  10. Techniques of Cognitive Therapy
  11. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
  12. Techniques Used by CBT Specialists
  13. Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy
  14. The Sequences in REBT Model
  15. Potentials and Limitations of Cognitive Behavioural Approach

6 Application of Cognitive Therapies in Counseling

  1. Application in Different Settings
  2. Educational Setting
  3. Clinical Setting
  4. Personal-Social Situation

7 Cognitive Behaviour Modification

  1. Self Instructional Technique
  2. Stress Inoculation Technique (SIT)
  3. Self Management Technique
  4. Problem Solving Technique

8 Solution Focused Counseling and Integrative Counseling

  1. Meaning of Solution-Focused Counseling
  2. Key Assumptions of Solution-Focused Counseling
  3. Procedure of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
  4. Potential and Limitations of Solution-Focused Counseling
  5. Concept and Meaning of Integrative Counseling
  6. Approaches to Integrative Counseling
  7. Potentials and Limitations of Integrative Counseling

9 Roger’s Client Centered Counselling

  1. Introduction to Rogers’ Counselling
  2. Humanistic Psychology
  3. The Phenomenology Framework
  4. Client Centered Counselling
  5. Concept of Self
  6. Counsellor’s Congruence
  7. Unconditional Positive Regard
  8. Experience of Threat and the Process of Defense
  9. Accurate Empathic Understanding
  10. The Master Motive: Self-Actualising Tendency
  11. The Fully Functioning Person
  12. Important Points to Remember for Effective Client Centered Counselling
  13. Scientific Evidences and Researches
  14. Therapeutic Relation

10 Psychodynamic Couple’s Counselling

  1. Psychodynamic Approach to Counselling
  2. Psychoanalytic Theory Versus Psychodynamic Theory
  3. Psychodynamics of Marriage/Couple Counseling
  4. Object Relation Theory
  5. Marriage Counselling
  6. Stages in Couples Counseling
  7. Sexual Counseling
  8. Couples and Domestic Violence, Mental Illness

11 Family and Group Counselling

  1. Introduction to Group and Family
  2. Multigenerational Approach
  3. Approaches in Interpersonal Functioning
  4. Structural Approaches
  5. Group Process and Group Dynamics
  6. Group Approaches
  7. Techniques of Family Therapy
  8. Types of Groups in Counseling
  9. Selection of Group Members
  10. Process in Group and Family Counseling

12 Eclectic Counselling

  1. History Behind Integrated/Eclectic Approach to Counselling
  2. Pathways of Integrative Approach in Counselling Practice
  3. Common Ground for Integrated Perspective of Counselling
  4. Multimodal Therapy
  5. Reality Therapy/Approach and Choice Theory
  6. Feminist and Systemic Therapy
  7. Advantages and Disadvantages of Eclectic Counselling

13 Teaching and Training for Counselling

  1. Before Start of Counselling
  2. Approaches to Counselling
  3. The Counselling Process
  4. Ethical Issues

14 Current Status of Counselling with Special Reference to India

  1. Development of Counselling and Guidance Centres in India
  2. The Secondary Stage Services of Guidance and Counselling Psychology in India
  3. Counselling Psychology: Education and Training
  4. Careers in Clinical and Counselling Psychology
  5. India’s Two Leading Organisations

15 Future Direction

  1. Application of Counselling Psychology
  2. Development of Counselling
  3. Counselling Psychology and Career
  4. E-Counselling: An Introduction
  5. E-Counselling: Benefits and Challenges
  6. Ethical Issues in E-Counselling

16 Research Findings

  1. The Leading Counselling Research Approach
  2. Systematic Case Study Research
  3. Qualitative Single Case Study Research in Counselling
  4. Single Case Experiments
  5. Single-Case Quantitative Studies
  6. Combined Quantitative and Qualitative Case Studies
  7. Outcome Studies
  8. E-Counselling Researches
  9. Ethical Issues in Counselling Research
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