‘An Exploratory Study on the Accessibility of Counselling for Children and Young People in Primary and Secondary Schools in India (Bengaluru)’

Abstract

School counselling has found it's commonplace in numerous countries throughout the world. However, such provision in India is scarce, and although some schools do offer therapeutic resources, generally, this is not well established. School counselling and the mental health of children and young people are still in their infancy phase in India. This research presents the views of relevant stakeholders on this nascent profession. This study occurred in the city of Bengaluru (Karnataka) in India. Twelve semi-structured interviews took place that focused on their perception of the accessibility of counselling within their school setting. The participants included a mix of parents, teachers, and school counsellors. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis guided by an ecologically informed humanistic perspective. The analysis led to arriving at five main themes incorporated into their subthemes. These highlighted a series of ecological factors that contributed to the accessibility of counselling services in their schools for children and young people. The main themes were: (1) Mental health and emotional well-being of CYP, (2) School counselling, the role of counsellors and its accessibility, (3) Training, resources, and policies for CYP, (4) the influence of relationships and socio-cultural factors, (5) Funding and economic factors. For many children and young people, access to school-based counselling is likely to be unavailable depending on their geography, especially in rural areas, however, there is much scope for growth and development in urban areas for school counselling. For counselling within Indian schools to become more fully integrated, the findings evidence that a systematic approach is necessary, such as implementing the ecological model, that holds all stakeholders accountable. This would include the government, targeted education of policymakers, school staff, families, CYP themselves and the communities that they come into contact with. This work provides an important step in highlighting the challenges and opportunities of developing such services in India.

Date of Award	6 Jan 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Terry Hanley (Supervisor) & Laura Winter (Supervisor)