PUTRAJAYA: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM) has set a target ratio of one registered counsellor to every 500 people, said Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun (pix).
She said as of Aug 31, the Board of Counsellors recorded a total of 10,136 counsellors or one registered counsellor to every 3,327 people.
“We have seen an urgent need for counselling services within these past few years. During the two years that the country was facing the Covid-19 pandemic followed by post-Covid-19, we saw how counselling saved people’s lives,” she said when launching the National Counselling Month here today.
Rina said she believed that the one counsellor to every 500 people ratio can be achieved even though the country’s population increases every year, adding that KPWKM will improve the counsellor registration process and conduct counsellor qualification verification sessions through the online platform.
“We will also go down to the field and organise programmes so that the counsellors can register,” she said adding that some counsellors did not register after completing their studies as their current job does not involve counselling.
According to Rina, about 60 per cent of registered counsellors are in the civil service, schools as well as public and private educational institutions.-Bernama
