About Pratham
Pratham was founded in 1995, to provide pre-school education to children in Mumbai slums. Over the last 27 years, Pratham has grown to be one of the largest nonprofit organizations working to provide quality education to children and youth in over 20 states and union territories across the country, through a range of interventions.
Pratham is a widely recognized organization, having received notable awards such as the Yidan Prize, Lui Che Woo Prize, WISE Prize for Innovation, Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, the Henry R Kravis Prize in Leadership, and the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year for Public Service. For more details, refer to www.pratham.org.
About the ENABLE Program
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasizes the fundamental importance of universal foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN). But, children, especially those with special needs and disabilities, face significant barriers hindering their acquisition of foundational skills. In India, an estimated 7.8 million children and young individuals had disabilities in 2019. Alarmingly, a large proportion of them do not attend educational institutions, and 45% struggle to attain foundational literacy. ENABLE’ or ‘Equity in Accessing Numeracy And Basic Literacy Education’, is a multi-pronged intervention to strengthen the quality of education for 3-9 year olds with disabilities. The 3 key objective of this program is to:
- Strengthen Government’s mainstream service delivery mechanism to ensure foundational learning outcomes for learners with disabilities (LwD)
- Identify, address and overcome attitudinal barriers and stereotypes towards learners with disabilities in families and communities
- Facilitate partnership between relevant government departments, civil society, private sector and communities in support for learners with disabilities
Position Summary
The counsellor will provide essential support to children with disabilities and their families, and will be responsible for needs assessment, adherence to safeguarding policies, and working towards holistic well-being of our learners. The counsellor`s role extends to networking with mental health service providers and other stakeholders including parents and teachers.
Key responsibilities:
1) Counselling Responsibilities
- Assess counselling needs of children through appropriate tools.
- Adhere to a strict ethical framework relating to counselling/ therapy which gives guidance and standards for good practice.
- Work with learners with disabilities with a range of diverse issues, including behavioural issues.
- Promote a caring and supportive environment for learners.
- Practice preventative and/or interventionist methods to meet learners` and families` immediate and future needs, including: (a) individual or group counselling for children; (b) effective consulting and collaboration with families/ caregivers/ teachers.
- Provide referrals to external sources of psychological/ psychiatric support.
- Strictly adhere to Pratham`s safeguarding policies and procedures and receive appropriate safeguarding training and refresher training regularly.
2) Networking Responsibilities
- Attend relevant meetings/ events/ conferences to amplify inclusive education practices through ENABLE.
- Network with local mental health service providers and develop strong working relationships with specialists.
3) Other responsibilities
- Enroll children and complete necessary documentation.
- Categorise children’s needs and requirements.
- Guide in implementing appropriate intervention strategies.
- Inform parents about children’s progress, maintaining comprehensive case records.
- Maintain relevant records.
- Collaborate with Center Heads and Special educators to ensure consistent attendance.
- Prepare monthly reports, case studies and success stories.
Required Skills and Knowledge
Skills
- Ability to actively observe and listen to children to identify any psychosocial or developmental issues.
- The ability to effectively communicate with children with disabilities and their families.
- Using creative and age-appropriate techniques that can help children express themselves and understand their emotions.
- Ability to organise sessions for teachers, parents, and other stakeholders to sensitise them on mental health counselling.
- Ability to provide trauma-informed care to children with disabilities.
- Ability to prepare digital reports for better documentation.
Knowledge
- Understanding of the development stages of children.
- Knowledge of communication techniques.
- Know-how of creative techniques to engage children such as art therapy, music therapy, and storytelling.
- Knowledge and willingness to collaborate with diverse stakeholders.
- Understanding and addressing trauma in children, including how to create a safe environment for children who have experienced trauma.
- Knowledge to use MS Office tools (Word, Powerpoint, Excel).
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's or master's degree in related field such as psychology, special education, social work (specialization in Mental Health).
- Minimum 2 years of related experience.
- Willingness to promote innovation and adapt to change.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively and independently, with a strong commitment to inclusivity and diversity.
Working Location : 3 [Maharashtra – 2; Madhya Pradesh – 1]
Deadline: 31 January 2024
Application Process
Please send the following to recruitment@pratham.org. We will reach out to you to set up the application process. To participate in the process, kindly submit the form available at https://forms.gle/Rnzh52x1cWCeTXxm7.
Your resume should contain
- Contact information
- Academic background: Universities attended and degrees acquired with academic record (Marks or GPA, if applicable)
- Past work experience, highlighting relevant skills
- Relevant Coursework: List Courses in Development, Management, and Education
- Experiences in development, teaching and/or education (if applicable)
- Interest areas/hobbies
- Languages spoken
Note: Pratham is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workforce and consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age or disability. We encourage individuals from underrepresented groups, especially persons with disabilities to apply.