1
Origin And Development Of Guidance
And Counseling Practice In Tanzanian
Schools
1.0. Overview
Track record and Background of Advice and Counseling in general in school Practice and
other setting
The history of school counseling formally began in the turn with the twentieth century,
though a case might be made for tracing the foundations of counseling and advice rules to
ancient Greece and Rome with all the philosophical teachings of Plato and Aristotle.
There’s also evidence to argue that some of the methods and abilities of modern-day
guidance counselors were practiced by Catholic priests in the middle ages, as may be
observed from the determination to the idea of confidentiality within the confessional.
Close to the end of the sixteenth century, one of the 1st texts about profession solutions
appeared: The Universal Plaza of All the Professions with the World, (1626) written by
Tomaso Garzoni quoted in Guez, W. & Allen, J. (2000). Nevertheless, formal guidance
programs using specialized textbooks did not start until the flip of the twentieth century.
Counseling is an idea that has existed for a long time in Tanzania. We have sought
through the ages to understand ourselves, offer counsel and develop our potential,
become aware of opportunities and, in general, help ourselves in ways associated with
formal guidance apply. In most communities, there has been, and there still is, a deeply
embedded conviction that, under proper conditions, people can help others with their
problems. Some people help others find ways of dealing with, solving, or transcending
problems as Nwoye, (2009) prescribed in his writings. In schools, presently if the
collaboration between teachers and students is good, students learn in a practical way.
Young people develop degrees of freedom in their lives as they become aware of choices
and take advantage of them. At its best, helping should enable people to throw off chains
and manage life situations effectively. Unprecedented economic and social changes have,
over the years, changed the ways in which we manage our lives. Consequently, not all the
lessons of the past can effectively deal using the challenges of modern day times.
Effective counseling, especially in institutions of learning has now become important.
Boys and girls, and young men and women, need to be guided in the relationships
between health and the environment, earning abilities, knowledge, and attitudes that lead
to success and failure in life. The need for counseling has become paramount in order to
promote the well-being with the child. Effective advice and counseling should help to
improve the self-image of young people and facilitate achievement in life tasks.
Counseling should empower girls and boys to participate fully in, and benefit from, the
economic and social development of the nation.
2
2.0. Definitions of Concepts
2.1. Guidance
Advice is an act of showing the way for some people, like adolescents, who cannot find
the right path. It is directing, pointing, leading and accompanying. Guidance is saying
“Yes” to someone who is asking for help. It is saying “Yes” to an invitation of someone
who wants a temporary companion along life’s way.
Guidance is giving directions towards the lonely, confused, unloved, the suffering, the
sick and the lost. It is pointing to some alternatives of thinking, feeling and acting. It is
leading the person psychologically, emotionally and even spiritually to some newer ways
of meaningful living. It is accompanying those who are fearful and uncertain, those who
need
someone
along
the
rugged
path
of
life’s
journey.
From an objective point of view, advice is part and parcel with the counseling profession.
It is called directive counseling. High school and even college students need advice when
they are unsure of what options to make or what directions to take. The advice counselor
“opens up” a planet of choices for these persons for them to choose from. It is like
presenting the universe when all that a person sees is the lonely planet earth. The advice
counselor enlarges and widens the horizon of people who sees only a narrow path or a
concealed view of that path. Thus, the focus is on prospects and possibilities.
Usually, guidance occurs in schools. High college and college students avail of guidance
and counseling services in their college. More usually, young people are unsure of what
to do, how to react or respond, and how to act in certain possibilities. When this occurs,
they need someone older, wiser and more experienced to show them the way, to guide
them. This is the role with the advice counselor to extend assistance when necessary to
those who are confused, uncertain, and needing advice. However, some adults may need
guidance too.
2.2. Counseling:
Counseling is guiding and more. It is a way of healing hurts. It is both a science and an
art. It is a science because to offer counsel, advice or assistance, the counselor must have
the knowledge with the basic ideas and methods of counseling. The counselor must be
able to use any of these basic ideas and tactics as paradigms in order for him to counsel
well. However, it is not enough to use know these basic concepts and methods. The other
important aspect is for that counselor to know how to counsel-the art of counseling. This
aspect considers counseling as a relationship, as a sharing of life, inside the hope that the
person who is hurting will be healed. As a relationship, counseling involves the physical,
emotional, and psychical or spiritual dimensions. The counselor must have the ability to
relate for the counselee in an appropriate physical manner without being too intimate or
too near for comfort or being too distant or aloof. The emotional dimension in counseling
includes empathy, sensitivity and the ability to interpret non-verbal clues of the counselee
in order to understand unresolved complexes or pent-up feelings. The psychical or
3
spiritual dimension embraces the counselee’s “soul-content”—what lies within. This is
what is called the interiority of the person. The counselor must have the gift or grace of
catching a glimpse with the interior globe with the person, particularly his spiritual
condition, for this is quite important in healing the person’s hurts.
2.3. Other Definitions of the Concepts
Biswalo (1996) defines advice as a term used to denote the process of helping an
individual to gain self understanding and self direction (self decision-making) so that he
can adjust maximally to his home, school or community environment. This process,
however, depends on counseling. He also defines counseling as a process of helping an
individual to accept and use information and advice so that he can either solve his present
problem or cope with it successfully. He goes further remarking that sometimes the
process helps the individual to accept unchangeable condition for example, loss of dearly
loved ones and to some extent change it in its favour rather than letting himself be
overcome through the circumstance. Guez and Allen (2000) remarked that it is difficult to
think of a single definition of counseling. This is because definitions of counseling
depend on theoretical orientation. Counseling is a learning-oriented process, which
occurs usually in an interactive relationship, with all the aim of helping a person learn
more about the self, and to use such understanding to enable the person to become an
effective member of society. Counseling is a process by means of which the helper
expresses care and concern in the direction of the person with a problem, and facilitates
that person’s personal growth and brings about change through self-knowledge.
Counseling is a relationship between a concerned person and a person with a need. This
relationship is usually person-to-person, though sometimes it might involve more than
two people. It is designed to help people to understand and clarify their views, and learn
how to reach their self-determined goals through meaningful, well-informed options, and
through the resolution of emotional or interpersonal problems. It can be observed from
these definitions that counseling can have different meanings.
3.0. Origin of Advice and Counseling Apply in Pre-Colonial Era
Counseling in Tanzania in different forms and with different interpretations, has existed
in societies for a long time before colonial era. The differences and contradictions in
present-day, have their origin inside the social and historical forces that have shaped
contemporary culture. In Tanzania people in all societies, and at all times, have
experienced emotional or psychological distress and behavioural problems. In each
culture, there have been very well established ways and methods of helping individuals
with their problems. However, there are no sufficient published sources about the origin
of advice and counseling apply in Tanzanian schools. But like other places before
colonial era there had been outstanding unique elements which held the societies together
in their livelihood. The elements include the extended family system, including the clan
and the tribe, chieftaincy, taboos, various forms of initiation and shut links with ancestors
and elders.
4
The village is the focal point of society. Whilst each one of these elements is important,
only a couple of are used to illustrate the role of advice and counseling in present-day
Tanzanian societies. Basically, traditional chiefs had multiple roles which included
serving as a symbol of authority and as a regulator. Since these roles were accepted and
respected by all, there was a clear direction within the day-to-day affairs of society. The
elders, the chief included, were a valuable source of guidance and counseling for boys
and girls. In most cases, the chiefs were regarded as a vital link between ancestors and the
present generation. This link was strengthened through the rituals, ceremonies and taboos
attached to them. It was easy to guide and counsel the young, since the rituals or
ceremonies had been also aimed at preparation for adult roles in society. The extended
family, the clan, and the village, produced society supportive. No individual regarded
him/herself as alien. Counseling was readily sought and provided. The forms of advice
and counseling involved had been given advice and sharing wisdom.
4.0. The Developments of Guidance and Counseling Practices in Tanzanian Schools
4.1. Guidance and Counseling Practices in Tanzanian Schools Trends
In realizing this perhaps, since we are thinking of the concepts in school setting, we
should think the meaning of counseling in education discipline. One could think that the
definitions given above on the term advice and counseling, their meaning is often
directed to education grounds and now give the meaning correctly. Guez and Allen
(2000) pointed out that a term educational counseling was first coined by Truman Kelley
in 1914 in Makinde, (1988), educational counseling is a process of rendering services to
pupils who need assistance in making decisions about important aspects of their
education, such as the choice of courses and studies, decisions regarding interests and
ability, and alternatives of college and high college. Educational counseling increases a
pupil’s knowledge of educational opportunities.
The ever growing complexity of society in Tanzania, coupled with social problems like
HIV/AIDS and the rapid development of science and technology, place heavy demands
on education. The college, as an important social institution, was required to adapt
quickly to changing patterns, and help prepare citizens for tomorrow’s challenges. That is
where advice and counseling within the educational system should help boys and girls
alike, to develop their capacities to the full. These include intellectual, social, physical
and moral capacities. This help is with the most important in Tanzania as long as the
background and age of education provision and in its systems found today.
Advice and counseling practices development in Tanzanian schools is often traced back
from the time when vocational education was emerging right at the colonial period.
Within the process of establishing counseling services in Tanzania, there was a need to
first understand the underlying factors that influence people’s beliefs and perceptions
about such practices. However, this is thought that was not taken in to consideration at
the time and it may perhaps be up to recent time. It is especially important to understand
the economic, socio-political, religious beliefs, customs and traditions, and cultural
changes that are present in different regions of the country. Young people should be
5
understood inside this context, but also inside the paradoxical state of affairs of having to
face the traditional and the contemporary world, but this is a big challenge to Tanzania
and many developing African countries. During colonial period there had been some
form of vocational guidance under the profession guidance and it was administered by
profession masters. But the career masters who were selected through the head of schools
had no professional training in vocational advice. In truth the duty was limited to helping
students fill out employment forms and writing letters of application. Inside the
missionary schools vocational guidance was confined to religious services. The teachers
who were usually ‘fathers’, pastors, or reverends guided and trained spiritually inclined
youths to become sisters, brothers, fathers and pastors upon their completion of formal
education.
Apart of what may be done in schools in Tanzania, advice and counseling was more or
less a private family affair. Parents and relatives counseled their children on all matters of
life management and problem solving. It is true that in many families the duty of
common advice was the traditional duty of senior members with the family, father,
mother, uncle, aunt, and grandparents. In case of serious personal or family problems,
counseling was done by a specially organized through the community as a competent in
handling that specific problem. This is done without any knowledge obtained from
formal or informal school system but rather through experience and age wise through
collected wisdom. This kind of early form of counseling from college setting and
community helped the young to be brought into the bright image of living inside the
future for the society.
4.2. Guidance and Counseling Practices in Tanzanian Schools in Post-colonial era
In several literatures and sources, guidance and counseling in education sector in
Tanzania and some other African countries is regarded as the youngest discipline. This is
evidenced by 1st International Conference on Guidance, Counseling and Youth
Development in Africa held in Nairobi, Kenya from 22nd to 26th April, 2002 which
pointed out that the Guidance, Counseling and Youth Development Programme was
initiated in Africa in April 1994, following the first Pan African Conference on the
Education of Girls that was held in Ouagadougou in 1993. It is designed to introduce or
strengthen guidance and counseling in African countries. It focuses on capacity building
inside the countries involved and provides training at both regional and national levels on
issues of advice and counseling of schools and colleges.
What we can call professional advice and counseling in Tanzania schools begin inside the
year 1984 following the National October 1984 Arusha Conference, where advice and
counseling services were endorsed from the government as and integral part with the
country’s education system (Biswalo, 1996). The aim with the conference is to establish
systematic criteria for secondary schools students’ advice and counseling. Students had
been then advised, guided and counseled on matters concerning their job selection and
student placement for further education. This job was assigned to career masters and
mistresses as explained below, however, there were no sufficient guidance and
counseling personnel not only in the responsible ministry but also inside the schools.
6
Advice and Counseling is now becoming slowly institutionalized and spread in
educational institutions. Schools, for example, have to a large extent taken over the task
of providing psychological support to boys and girls. However Biswalo (1996) comments
that in Tanzania policies pertinent to guidance and counseling is still lacking. The
Ministry of Education, however, has somehow tried to institutionalize the services inside
the education system by appointing profession masters and mistresses. He continued
saying that the personnel are charged with the responsibility of advising heads of
secondary schools concerning students job selection and student placement for further
education; to try and help students understands and develop interest in appropriate jobs or
further education or training; to asses the students talents and capabilities and to
encourage them to pursue careers or further education best suited to them and to help
students solve their personal problems which could affect their general progress in
school.
This is an impossible and realistic burden on these untrained personnel. It reflects the
apathy of policy and decision makers regarding the new field of guidance and counseling
in schools; the strength of the myth of planned manpower in which profession advice is
erroneously regarded as redundant and the gross lack of trained personnel who would
provide effective guidance and counseling services in schools. It is unfortunate that even
after the National October 1984 Arusha Conference on the strengthening of education in
Tanzania, where advice and counseling services were endorsed by the government as and
integral part of the country’s education system, the services are to-date still patchy and
ineffective in Tanzania’s educational institutions. Guidance and counseling in this
manner is discussed by different scholars in primary, secondary and tertiary education
levels together.
5.0. Advice and Counseling Practices in Primary and Secondary Schools
In primary school levels in Tanzania in actual truth there were and are no specified
pupils’ teacher-counselors. However, the activity is left to teachers themselves to decide
what is to be done since there is no programmed or time-tabled activity concerning
advice and counseling. Teachers are left to use part of the teaching to apply advice and
counseling in and outside the classroom although not all teachers have gone teachercounselor training. As children enter school they need orientation on school itself, its
environment, school community and the curriculum to motivate and develop positive
attitude toward learning and school community too (Biswalo, 1996). As the pupils grow
older and pass through different grades they need to be directed in studying skills,
overcome learning difficulties and other college related problems. But this activity is not
performed systematically in primary schools in Tanzania.
Within the case of secondary schools till to-date there is also insufficient programmed or
time-tabled system of guiding and counseling students. In some cases this duty is left to
discipline masters and sometimes to class masters and head of schools. At secondary
school level, students would seek educational opportunities, information of all kinds and
any other help pertinent to educational pursuits. These needs are catered to by educational
advice and counseling (ibid). At this level students are helped with subject choice, study
7
methods and tests and examination. Biswalo (1996) pointed out that sometimes during
subject choice, pride of placing as many students as possible in prestigious streams, such
as science, takes precedence over actual skills, interests and aptitudes of students. He said
this unfortunate situation has been born out with the lack of genuine educational guidance
and counseling services in secondary schools.
The college has an important role to play in preparing pupils for continued secondary
education, paid employment, self-employment and life within the community, as clearly
set out from the Ministry of Education in the objectives for its secondary curriculum.
Perhaps uniquely, there would be total agreement amongst pupils, teachers and parents
over the relative emphasis a certain schools placed on the preparation for further
education, with its focus on academic knowledge and the pursuit of success in the
national examinations. That is, the secondary schools where counseling is not effectively
performed placed little emphasis on citizenship and the development of a responsible
attitude to life in the community in the local, regional or national level and employment
opportunities. However, what is de-emphasized is the informal sector including selfemployment but the emphasized is employment in the formal sector with its implied
emphasis on white collar jobs.
5.1. Vocational, Career Advice and Counseling
In Tanzania teachers have the capacity to directly influence their pupils’ choice of
careers. The achievements and attitudes of pupils have been shown to be related for the
characteristics and achievements of their teachers (World Bank, 1995; quoted in Nyutu,
P.N. & Norman C.G. 2008). However, the influence with the school depends on the
formal interactions and communication which take place between teachers and pupils
inside the classroom whereas television and radio, act through the informal interactions
pupils have with these media. The influence of parents and siblings is through both
formal and informal means.
That is in most cases in Tanzania and could be other states where advice and counseling
is rarely done in schools; parents play the big role to influence on their children’s choice
of careers. Others who have lower level careers i.e. teachers, clerks, drivers, personal
secretaries, soldiers etc. do not anticipate their children ‘following in their footsteps’
because for that children who are able to study to higher level sometimes saw these jobs
as narrow and lacking in interest. However it is suggested that parents’ occupation may
possibly have influenced their children’s choice of careers, but this happened to children
who have generic abilities useful in such jobs, and some may well have job abilities
relevant to those jobs. Access to information through the media and other forms of
technology is giving young people aspirations that, for the most part, cannot be satisfied
in their own environment. Alternatives have to be created and young people must acquire
the abilities to assess situations and make informed decisions. There is no longer a
natural, understandable order from birth to adulthood for the Tanzanian young.
Vocational advice at secondary college levels is provided but in really couple of among
others because of shortages of college or vocational trained counselors. For those lucky
8
schools with these kinds of counselors, students are helped but vocational counseling is
not emphasized because most pupils, teachers and of course parents push students to
make long range plans of study so that to prepare properly for your envisaged careers.
These counselors plan with school administrators and teachers to provide appropriate
class placement for students with special skills or disabilities for course selection by
students.
5.2. Tertiary Level
The tertiary level students are provided with orientation as well as other educational
guidance and counseling. In Tanzania tertiary level have at least fulfilled the need of
having qualified students’ counselors for both psychological and academics, although
they are handful of in number. Here counselors play a big role in compiling
comprehensive information on all aspects of the careers related for the training offered in
the institution. Counselors sometimes integrate with administration or practicum
department to organize field practices for students and even more rarely may well
contacts
with
relevant
employing
agencies
(Biswalo,
1996).
6.0. Notion on Advice and Counseling in Tanzania
According for the research by Sima (2004), professional counseling is yet to be
recognized as a stand-alone occupation in Tanzania and in many African countries.
Nevertheless, the coming and setting of HIV/Aids in the country has strengthened the
base for counseling. This is particularly because with the multifaceted nature of the
HIV/Aids pandemic whose attention, unlike other human diseases, goes beyond the
prerogatives of the medical profession. Thus, counseling is perceived as a crucial avenue
for prevention of HIV infection through provision of adequate and relevant information,
and for social and psychological support of people infected and affected by the pandemic.
Ibid continued saying that since the emergence of the pandemic within the country, a
number of non-governmental organizations have been offering counseling services
however, there’s lack of clarity on the type and nature of counseling services offered by
these organization. The nature and characteristics of counseling clients also remain fuzzy.
In Tanzania the professional counseling as aforesaid is relatively a new phenomenon.
Outwater (1995) quoted in Sima (2004) comments that before HIV/Aids epidemic, there
was no formal counseling service in Tanzanian hospitals, no professional counselors and
no formal system for training counselors. There was a need to fill this gap by training as
many counselors as possible to provide optimal care for AIDS patients and their relatives
(NACP, 1989; quoted in ibid). Since then many para-professional counselors have been
trained in basic knowledge and skills of counseling. Currently there are many counseling
centers working not only on HIV/Aids related problems but also different problems
affecting Tanzanians. However, as counseling became popular together with the advent
of HIV/Aids, many people assume that it is only meant for people infected and affected
by HIV/Aids and shy away from it for fear of being labeled (Sima, 2002; quoted in Sima
2004).
7.0. Problems and Challenges
9
The Tanzanian government have not yet formulated inside the education policy issues
pertaining guidance and counseling in spite with the crucially and necessity in schools.
Biswalo (1996) pointed out that in Tanzania policies pertinent to advice and counseling is
still lacking. He continued saying that efforts directed in the direction of fulfilling
guidance and counseling needs are apparently thwarted by several difficulties including
financial resources to support the even established tiny counseling activities in several
schools.
In Tanzania till today counseling is relatively new phenomenon. There are no enough
qualified counselors in schools and other education institutions. However, there are
limited quantity of qualified counselors, they are either not utilized properly in schools or
they are engaged in other activities rather than what they are trained for. Some of school
counselors are also teachers and they are fully occupied with teaching responsibilities.
More surprisingly counseling is perceived as a crucial avenue for only prevention of HIV
infection through provision of adequate and relevant information, and for social and
psychological support of people infected and affected by the HIV/Aids (Sima, 2004).
There is slow growth of guidance and counseling in educational systems attributed to
lack of funds, training facilities, and high turnover of advice counselors to green pastures
and in adequately trained counselors. For instance in many schools they lack counseling
offices, trained teacher-counselors and counseling equipments. In terms of funds there are
various selections that is often explored to alleviate financial constraints. Special schools
on behalf of parents in need can approach non-governmental organizations.
The absence of solid professional counseling association in Tanzania to set standards for
your appropriate practice is another challenge (Nwoye, 2008). Also insufficient
availability of professional counselor training programs in Tanzanian colleges and
universities is another contributing challenge.
There are no efforts to establish counseling curriculum in secondary schools and colleges
and advice and counseling courses in the universities. Advice curriculum and responsive
services can then be structured to address the five content areas, namely human
relationships, profession development, social values, self development, and learning
abilities. A guidance curriculum could be taught to students at different levels or in small
groups to address issues that are similar to them. For guidance and counseling programs
to be effective in Tanzania, trained professionals should be employed to manage and
offer services in schools. Such professionals should also be provided with relevant
facilities and structural support. At the same time, universities and teacher training
institutions will have to establish and develop programs that train professional college
counselors as well as other guidance personnel.
There is still insufficient assistance in higher education institutions to enable students
achieves their career aspirations. However, students today indicate a higher need for
profession advice than students in the previous decade. Students might therefore be
encountering an increased need to acquire relevant career information that will enable
them seek better paid jobs. Many schools have inside the previous appointed some
10
teachers as career masters without providing them together with the necessary training
and facilities for profession advice. Such profession masters usually assume that all
students will end up in universities and only focus on helping students complete
university application forms and no more. It is the high time for that government to set
and implement the policy that will enhance guidance and counseling from primary
schools for the tertiary level and in turn will develop programs that train professional
college counselors and other guidance personnel.
8.0. Conclusion
Advice and counseling sought to prepare pupils in their schooling program to enter into
the globe of appropriate work by linking the college curriculum to employment. For that
school to be successful in this endeavor, subjects should be taught at a pleasant and
convenient environment and should be produced relevant and interesting for the pupils.
Another factor that needs to be considered is the recruitment of competent teachers
capable of guiding and counseling learners in relating what they teach for the job market.
What is taught and how it is taught can have great influence on the interest and
perception of learners. In Tanzania the spirit to plan and use advice and counseling
services within the effective development and utilization of their respective young human
resources is evidently strong. However, as Biswalo (1996) said the efforts directed
towards fulfilling this need are apparently thwarted by several difficulties. It appears total
and enlightened commitment on the part of policy and decision makers is necessary and
should be definitely surmount the problems.
The emergence of profession development in western countries as a construct suggests
that it may be an essential area in developing country like Tanzania where students need
assistance; students particularly need assistance in selecting colleges and courses. To this
finish, the schools should offer a profession advice and counseling programme under the
able leadership of qualified school counselors