Indigenous and Modern Counselling

In order to give students adequate counseling, it is important that indigenous counseling is integrated in school counseling. The blending of modern and indigenous counseling approaches appears to create a balanced guidance and counseling services in Tanzanian secondary schools and makes counseling more culturally relevant as it connects students to both the modern and indigenous context. The inclusion of indigenous counseling play a crucial role in addressing many of the challenges students encounter in school and which cannot be adequately addressed through modern counseling only. Since students are part of the family and community, before, during and after finishing their studies, it is important that school counseling should be relevant to the challenges that modern schooling posits and at the same time addresses issues that are more indigenous in nature. It is important that the Tanzanian government establish policies concerning school counseling that encompass both modern and indigenous approaches, and it is also very urgent that school counselors get adequate training in both approaches.