Why We Decentralised Our Counseling Unit— DELSU VC

The Vice-Chancellor of Delta State University, Abraka, Prof. Andy Egwunyenga, has explained why the state-owned institution decentralised its counseling processes.

Egwunyenga said the move was aimed at strengthening the compassion-oriented  process and making it easier for students to access the services.

The Vice-Chancellor made the clarification on Wednesday in Abraka at a two-day workshop organised by the University Counselling Unit with the theme, “The Role of Career Service Units in Enhancing Students Employability in the 21st Century”.

According to Egwunyenga, counselling units have been established at faculty levels to make it easy for students to access counselling services.

He emphasised the importance of effective counselling of students to their career choices and employability after graduation.

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The V-C charged the counselling facilitators for training in the workshop to put in their best to boost the counselling services in the university and encouraged students to seek counsel on any issue, especially on career choices and how to enhance their employability after graduation.

In his address at the ceremony, the Director of the University Counselling Unit, Rev. Fr. Jude Obiunu, said the establishment of career service units in universities is a brain child of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities in a bid to enhance the employability of their graduates.

The Director thanked the Vice Chancellor for putting the students first by approving the establishment of counselling outreaches in all the faculties and the workshop to train over fifty counselling facilitators in the university.

He pointed out that students of the university now have easier access to counselling services which cover career choices, job search resources, employability readiness assessment and skills enhancement training among others.

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In a keynote paper presented in the workshop, Prof. Elizabeth Egbochukwu of the Faculty of Education, University of Benin, said that the employability of students has emerged as a critical global issue which has forced many countries to adopt diverse strategies to tackle the challenge.

Egbochukwu, who was represented by Mrs Regina Izomoh, pointed out that effective career counselling in universities enhances students’ employability after graduation because it helps them align their skills, interests and career goals with the demands of the job market.

She noted that career counselling is plagued by challenges such as resource constraints, lack of interest among students and rapid changes in the industry.

She, therefore, called for adequate funding of university counselling units, integration of innovative technologies such as Artificial Intelligence to make it dynamic, personalised, attractive and responsive to needs of students.

The Guest Lecturer in the workshop and Dean of the Faculty of Education, Delta State University, Abraka, Prof. Florence Ugoji, who spoke on the topic “Critical Thinking and Creativity as Tools for Employability in the 21st Century”, said that the rapid evolution in the job market especially in workplace dynamics and higher level skills requirements make critical thinking and creativity essential tools for employment seekers.

Ugoji described critical thinking as the disciplined process of evaluating information, arguments and evidence to make logical decisions and creativity as the ability to think of new and innovative ideas, noting that both work together to produce effective solutions to complex problems often encountered in workplaces by employees.

She pointed out that employability is no longer based on possession of academic qualifications or technical skills because employers are increasingly looking for individuals that can think critically, solve complex problems and generate creative solutions.

She therefore called on students to engage in activities that challenge their critical thinking and explore creative outlets.

The workshop featured the training of fifty–two faculty counselling facilitators on welcoming of clients and initial interview, process of identifying clients problems, self-help techniques for managing behaviour problems and the process of referral of students to appropriate quarters for further interventions.