Schools and the educational system in the Kingdom have become the focus and platform for vast improvements and forward developments this year. Considering the great benefits the school counselor can have on the academic, social, and psychological state of students, the Ministry of Education recently announced plans to require schools to employ more full-time school counselors who also serve as social workers in the school. Fawzia Al-Balaa, head of counseling and guidance at the Ministry of Education, stated that each school should assign a counselor for every 100 to 250 students. In many schools, there is only one counselor or social worker for the entire school, and according to Al-Balaa, this is insufficient in providing optimal care for the nation's youth. This new policy will have the dual purpose of offering jobs for social workers and psychology graduates while also helping out boys and girls who may be facing social or psychological problems. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education pressed school administrators to retain a teacher who is trained and experienced in special education to assist those students with learning disorders or other disabilities. “The social worker or school counselor should not be required to participate in the routine searches and inspections that take place at schools to check out if students have brought impermissible items with them. “I urge the school principal in every region and every district in the Kingdom to relieve the school counselor of this duty because such inspections will negatively impact the relationship between the school counselor and the student,” said Al-Balaa. “In order to serve the students better and help in correcting any behavioral problems, there must be an open line of communication, trust, and friendship between the counselor and the child. “Looking through a student's belongings, catching her with a banned item, and reprimanding her will no doubt hurt the relationship, so someone else in the school should perform this job.” Malika Al-Tayar who works in the Directorate of Education in the Eastern Province said: “Even more than before, the school counselor has a very important role and her presence is greatly needed in the student's school life. Students need continuous guidance, support, and counseling especially with all the recent and fast-paced changes going on in the society and in the world around them.” In Jeddah, Fatimah Al-Hadi organizes workshops to train social workers and help them improve their own skills to strengthen the positive influence that they will have on the lives of students. “The school counselor serves as a role model for the younger generation so she must exhibit exemplary behavior, and a deep understanding and actual implementation of our religion's teachings. Our workshops reinforce the qualities that a successful school counselor should have, such as good listening and communication skills, anger management, secrecy, acceptance of the student for who she is while advising and guiding,” said Al
