Paris – NBCC has used its official status with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to advocate for counseling as a component of the agency’s education policies and programs.

Executive Vice President Ted Iliff represented NBCC at the biennial General Conference held at UNESCO headquarters during the last half of October. NBCC was invited to participate in the conference because of its status as a non-governmental organization (NGO) partner in official relations.

While attending the Education Commission strategy and planning meetings, Iliff noted that UNESCO documents and statements concerning its keystone “Education for All” (EFA) initiative spoke of a holistic approach to fostering education. However, they made almost no reference to any form of guidance or counseling.

During the commission’s debate on EFA, Iliff raised the issue of counseling’s benefits to the more than 60 national delegations attending the session.

“Counseling is a set of skills that can be taught at various levels of complexity to fit a school’s cultural, social and economic environment,” Iliff said.

“Training in counseling skills can help teachers and other school personnel identify signs of stress, trauma, depression, addiction, abuse and many other mental health problems that threaten a child’s development. Add career or vocational counseling, and you enter into the realm of sustainable development.”

Iliff quoted from a UNESCO report on EFA progress that cited concerns about gender inequality, poor attendance and high drop-out rates, among others. He said counseling can help educators deal with all those problems.

UNESCO’s new assistant director-general for education, Nicholas Burnett, later told Iliff that he welcomed the comments about the value of counseling and would consider those points as he formulates new policies related to achievement of EFA goals.