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Can you tell us briefly about your achievements so far?

We have successfully been able to send in our establishment plan to TETFund. Originally, when we started in NOUN, we have a responsibility to play, at a point there was a lacuna, at a point it was as if the work of counsellors in Open University was really played down and there was a kind of confusion. You see a registry staff doing the work of a counselor. For now, we have been able to streamline that, looking at where we are now, and to suggest to the university that there is a need to look into the roles of counsellors and we have suggested what the roles of counsellors should be at the various study centres. For now, atimes some students don�t even see counsellors, because we have desk officers, admin staff that do the screening. It has not been easy, we have not been able to get that back, because some students will come and once they finish with the admin officer, off they go. They don�t even know there are counsellors. It is been a lot of struggle.

I have tried to let them know that the problem we have in study centres now is that the presence of counsellors are not felt and at a point we don�t have enough counsellors. If you remember a time when we have to do an internal recruitment for our staff that needed to be upgraded ,we have to convert them to counselors and subject them to training. So there was a whole lot of gap. Even some of the counsellors were not doing counselling work but admin work so we are trying to reposition that.

When I started as counsellor in NOUN, I knew what we did; I knew what we imparted to our students. We are trying to re-emphasise those roles we play and they should be allowed to play that role. We are not trying to take the responsibility of admin. But at the same time, counsellors are within the system. Some one can tell one you will fail, but there is a way counsellors will professionally say it, find a way around it and improvise some remedial. A counselor will open you up around the fact and allow you take decision, we don�t decide for you but allow you see various paths within a challenge then allow you to make choice. Secondly, when it comes to training for counsellors it has been on the down side and if we continue to use what we learnt about 30 years ago we might not be doing the right thing because things evolve everyday. So what we did as a directorate was to start monthly lecture series and we are trying to take us through the new ones among us; learning something new and old ones are being reminded of what is expected of them and what they need to remain relevant in the present practice.

Our students, like you said, hardly talk to counsellors but admin officers. Having become the director now, is there anything new we should expect?

Thank you very much. I would have forgotten the vital thing we are dong now, becaus"/> Latest Gists & Discussions | NOUN UPDATE

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Why Counselling Remains The Sole Pivot For Students, Staff Career Development, Progress - Dr. Omuya

Dr. Sefinat Omuya is the immediate-past Director, Directorate of Learner Support Services (LSS) and currently the pioneer Director of the new-created Directorate of Counselling and Career Development, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), which came to being earlier this year. The soft-spoken, meticulous and detailed personality, took NOUN News correspondents: Debbie Nduba and Ibrahim Kabiru Sule through a sail cruise on the nitty gritty of counselling and career development for students and staff, what informed the creation of the directorate as well as other sundry insights into the blosooming sector. Excerpts:

Can we know who is Dr. Sefinat Omuya?

I am Dr. Sefinat Omuya. I am the Director, Directorate of Counselling and Career Development. Before now I have acted as the Director in the Directorate of Learner Support Services. My background has always been from the background of guidance and counselling, from my first degree through PhD guidance and counselling and I am passionate about student, personally. I don�t give up on anyone, I still believe no matter how bad or terrible it is, something can be done about that person and with that I still do my work as a counsellor before I eventually end up on this seat as the Director of Counselling and Career Development.

When were you appointed as the Director, Counselling and Career Development?

I was appointed to this position January, 2025.

Was it also the time the directorate was created because from what we used to know it was the Directorate of Learner Support Services. What informed the creation of this directorate?

Yes, what really informed the creation of the directorate has to do with TETFund and the NUC. For TETFund, there is a grant for carer services centre; it stems out of the fact that here if you look at the system very well, we have so many people graduating, they can�t get job and we are meant to understand that it�s because some of them don�t have employability skills, some of them don�t have the skills for public service. So I think from that point of view, TETFund intervening in so many areas, felt that there is no point chunking out graduates and not getting job. Some went into particular profession because they were ignorant, some of them don�t know, some went in because they were looking for a degree. None of them asked: so after this degree where are the opportunities? What will I be doing so that I will be useful in the work space? So this has become a very serious issue for the nation Nigeria and I believe that is one of the major reasons TETFund is not saying we should have it, not only having it, but they are providing the funds for us get it and for us to get the funds/grant. There must be physical facility on ground, there must be a space dedicated for that purpose and that was what informed the creation of Directorate of Counselling and Career Development.

With this, I am sure that a lot of people will want to know whether we still have LSS, having been the director there?

I want us to understand one thing that LSS is a different directorate, different segment within the university, which provides support for our students. If you mention ICT, they are providing support, if you mention MIS, they are providing support, even registry. It is just that mainly in LSS. Before now the main hub all these other directorates providing support, they all have their directorate and the thing is the major group that really made LSS is the counselling at the study centres but there are other activities connected to it. We have the centre directors and what they do at the centres, for now because the main group in that LSS has been taken away because of what I mentioned earlier now is not there. There is no learner support again but it has been shifted to another place, the person supervising the activities of the study centres now is the DVC Administration. This is the way it is. All the other groups they have their directorates to conduct and we have to do this to better supervise our counsellors to ensure that we get the work done.

In essence, we still have relationship with the study centers but the only difference is that their activities of the directors are being managed by the DVC Admin. But when it comes to the activities of the counsellors in the centres, they interact with us in this directorate. We also have some directors that are counsellors now; they still relate to the university though, they have to report to us as a directorate via the VC.

Based on the demand of NUC and TETFUND, is there anything that has changed after being confirmed as a directorate, something like physical facilities, etc.?

Yes, though we didn�t start early enough. For now, we have submitted, because there are procedures. Yes, we have not gotten the grant that�s why you have not seen some few things you are expected to see. But we have been able to submit the establishment plan; we are expecting them possibly to tell us that we can ask for the fund. For now, nothing. But we have been conducting a lot of training for our counsellors to prepare them. Yes, we were doing counselling before now and career guidance and counselling but this time we have to pay attention to career services and developmen. It is not just telling someone this is the course, this is what is expected of you, etc. There are certain skills we need to train them on before they leave the university and some of these employability, soft skills. We are already digital so we need to let them know this and encourage them. Life is more than getting a first class because I have seen a first class roaming but 2:2 gaining employment. I am not saying godfathers, but people who skilled themselves, we have first class but not skilled and the work space now is looking for skilled persons in all these soft skills that are enhanced in the system. All these things we will be doing, but we are already dong virtual training for our counsellors. At least, there�s one we do once in a month but we have to step it down now because of the ongoing exams because they are engaged in that. So these are some of the things we are doing to put everything in place before the funds starts coming in. For the first things, what we have done now is indication of what we need to function well, once the approval comes, we will get all of these and do the needful for our students.

Can you tell us briefly about your achievements so far?

Our students, like you said, hardly talk to counsellors but admin officers. Having become the director now, is there anything new we should expect?

Thank you very much. I would have forgotten the vital thing we are dong now, becaus

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