[Assam] School psychologist’s role in grooming children

[Rajen & Ajanta Barua]

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE : August 8, 2008

School psychologist’s role in grooming children stressed
Staff Reporter
 GUWAHATI, Aug 7 — In the United States of America (USA) if a child fails to make progress and faces difficulties in the classroom, the school system is duty bound to find out the reasons of such difficulties, said Rani Dutta Choudhury, a senior school psychologist with the Berkeley High School, Berkeley, California. She was delivering a lecture on the role of the school psychologist at the Axam Jatiya Vidyalaya, Noonmati on Tuesday.

Also a translator of repute, Dutta Choudhury, who translated a number of Shilabhadra short stories in to English with much acclaim, said that it is the job of the school psychologist in the USA to do the psychological testing of such students. The testing is a comprehensive process involving IQ tests, tests to measure social and emotional status of the child and tests to see if any specific learning problems are hindering the progress of the child.

Another professional called an Educational Diagnostician does testing to measure the child’s achievement level in reading and mathematics. The data concerning all these tests are recorded and a rational conclusion is tried to be arrived at to know the cause of problems troubling the child concerned in the classroom.

The results of the tests determine whether the child requires special education, which is called a safety net for the children who are not succeeding in the regular classroom. It brings together the resources and special help necessary for the child to succeed.

If a child is proved to be suffering from either of learning disabilities, autism or severely impaired social skills, health impairments and emotional disturbances or from more of these afflictions, and individual education plan is drawn up to meet the specific needs of the child.

Besides this main duty, the school psychologist has other responsibilities as well. The school psychologist is a counsellor when the need arises with the troubled children. The school psychologist is a consultant who keeps the teachers abreast of the latest breakthroughs in education. Also, he or she is a liaison to the school and Government agencies and so on so forth. The focus is always on the student and how to help them succeed, said Dutta Choudhury.

The lecture was organised by the Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS) and the teachers of the Jatiya Vidyalaya attended it with avid interest, said a press release 
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