BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

More than 60 students from six Cluster III secondary schools participated in the Advance Counseling Course for Peer Guidance Group at the main hall of Sayyidina Abu Bakar Secondary School yesterday.

The two-day course, which takes a break today and will conclude on Saturday, was held to expose students to the importance of communication and leadership skills.

It also hoped to prepare the participants with advance knowledge on how to help their peers come to a positive decision.

The participants comprise Year 9 and Year 10 students from Sayyidina Abu Bakar Secondary School, Berakas Secondary School, Lambak Kiri Secondary School, PAP Hajah Masna Secondary School, Sayyidina Umar Al-Khattab Secondary School and Maktab Sains.

In an interview with one of the facilitators from Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College, Pg Hjh Fatriah Pg Hj Bujang said students under the Peer Guidance Group programme need to have a sense of empathy to improve their performance in assisting school counseling committees.

“Some students prefer to talk to their friends rather than teachers. It is important for the Peer Guidance Group students to improve their listening skills. They will also have to advise and monitor their peers so that they can lead them to a positive conclusion or simply convince their peers to come to us,” said Pg Hjh Fatriah.

The main problems among students are usually related with attendance, tardiness and poor academic performances.

“These problems occur due to the students’ personal issues. It is appropriate if the counseling session started from the Peer Guidance Group since peer talking is effective among students.”

The counseling course is separated into three categories – career, academic and personality.

Yesterday’s session focused on personality development which the counselor believed is an important skill to have in order to be part of the Peer Guidance Group.

The event kicked off with an aerobic and introduction session and continued with a presentation from Pg Hjh Fatriah on helping skills using the Dasie Model.

“The Dasie Model is one of the techniques used in counseling where the helper can learn the traits of those in need of help through their facial expression, body posture, hands movement, voice tone and so on,” she said.

“Helping is a unique process but the helper needs to establish rapport in order to get someone’s attention. This course can help the participants build their knowledge as well as their personality.”

The Brunei Times