An appeal has been made to the Education Ministry to strengthen guidance and counseling in schools to help bring the best out of students. Mr James Adjei, an educationist, said this was one activity that could not be ignored if schools were to run more effectively. He said there should not be any doubt that guidance and counseling constitute an indispensable tool for achieving quality education. He was speaking at the national guidance and counseling week celebration in the Asante-Akim South District at Juaso on Friday. “Guidance and counseling: an essential tool for shaping the lives of individuals” was the theme. Mr Adjei described the absence of counselors in most schools as unhealthy and said it must be addressed. He reminded teachers that it was out of place for them to make derogatory and discouraging remarks about their students, saying that could only dim their self confidence. He rather encouraged them to go the extra mile to identify problems facing individual students and help them to overcome these. He suggested orientation courses for selected teachers in schools without counselors to enable them take up this role until such time that the Ministry and the GES could produce adequate counselors. Mrs Dorothy Kinful, the District’s Guidance and Counseling Coordinator, complained about the lack of counselors in virtually all schools in the area. She said plans were underway to train some selected teachers as a stop gap measure.