Correct Answer - Option 2 : different
Guidance and counselling have become an integral part of the education system because of the changing face of education across the globe. Guidance and counselling are essential at educational and vocational levels for students so that they can choose the right courses and careers. The need for guidance and counselling can be stated in simple terms to assist and help individuals adjust to their personal, emotional, educational and occupational environment.
The Terms guidance and counselling, in some way or the other, are related to each other. They are similar in some ways and dissimilar in some other ways. Their relationship is drawn as under.
- Guidance is an organized service to identify and develop the potentialities of pupils. Comprehensive information about every (all the) pupil is collected with the help of different tests/tools, resources, which are recorded and interpreted.
- Guidance is helping the individual to develop his/her potentialities for all-round development whereas counselling helps individual to deal with complex problem situations and make adjustment/adaptations if necessary to lead a useful life.
- Guidance is promotive and preventive whereas counselling is therapeutic.
- Guidance can be given in any normal setting whereas counselling requires guidance that may be done by any teacher or guiding person whereas counselling can be done by a skilful counsellor who has had professional training in counselling.
- Guidance may be done by any teacher or guiding person whereas counselling can be done by a skilful counsellor who has had professional training in counselling.
- Guidance is an integral part of education and assists in fulfilling in educational organized as specialized services to deal with problem situations faced by students and may be of teachers
- The guidance includes some degree of counselling to help students deal with their day to day problems which is done by teachers, parents, significant others.
Counselling includes the guidance of individual which is done by Counsellors while helping students to solve their problems. This means there are overlapping and misuse of the terms.
Difference between Guidance and Counselling
| Nature |
Guidance |
Counselling |
| To whom given |
Students; Nurses facing general problems |
Students; Nurses facing psychological problems |
| By whom given |
Tutors; Parent; Counsellors |
Counsellors i.e. specially trained professional people with counselling skills. |
| Where |
Schools, home; everywhere; womb to tomb. |
In a special setting conducive to giving and receiving help for interviewing. |
| How given |
By way of giving educational, vocational information and helping individuals to understand themselves |
Giving guidance to enable individuals to make decisions for himself/themselves and coming to terms with life |
| Purpose |
Optimum development of individual student for ultimate development for the school |
Helping individuals develop self-confidence and adjust to life strategies and schooling problems. |
Hence, we can conclude that the meaning of the terms guidance and counselling are different from each other.
