Is it a level playing field?
Recently RCI has published a new notification declaring that a new course named B.Sc. in psychology shall be introduced. It will prevail for 4 years duration. Students after pursuing this degree shall get the license to practice as counselling psychologists and will also get an RCI registration number. It is one of the revolutionary and somewhat controversial notifications from RCI as a community of psychologists are viewing it with speculation.
Traditionally being a psychologist is a very lengthy process. First one has to get a bachelor’s in psychology, or this should be one of the disciplines in bachelors. Thereafter one is expected to pursue a master’s in it and then either an M.Phil. or psy D will allow one to be a psychologist after recognition from RCI. Now providing the license to practice just after graduation in order to fulfil the ratio to population is raising questions about this decision.
No concern for humanities
Psychology is not completely science. It is considered a mixture of science and humanities. Thus, students from both streams are allowed to pursue psychology as a career. However, after this notification, a student after class 10th will have two options. Either one chooses the science stream to get the license in four years or one can select humanities to go through the traditional way.
Thus, the most promising method here is the first one. It, therefore, shows no concern for humanities students as they still have to follow the traditional method, however, this is not the same for students of science background. This will lead to generations of psychologists from science who can outnumber those who have humanities. Here psychologists view that it must be equal for both streams as psychology is an interdisciplinary subject. A person with no knowledge of social and political aspects will shrink this discipline with a single shade thereby pushing students from the arts into an inferiority complex in this discipline.
Ambiguity regarding the present status of the psychologist
Considering those practitioners who have just graduated as equivalent to those who have cracked the traditional process and providing them with RCI registration numbers is something controversial. Although it is necessary to fulfil the psychologist a population ratio, this is raising ambiguity here. Questions such as, “What will be the future status of counseling psychologist who is already practising?”, “What will the way for humanities students to get the same license?” is still inside the box.
Way forward
Thus, it is high time that the WE must make the process of reforms inclusive and transparent. Following are the expectations from RCI while making such policies: –
- The policy formation process should also include the members who will be affected through this process
- Humanities students should equally get a chance towards getting an RCI license through a similar course to provide level playing field
- The ambiguity regarding the present status of psychologists must be cleared. There must be transparency in the process
Thus, in a nutshell, we shall conclude that policy formation is a complex task. While making such revolutionary policies, one must have a bird’s eye. We must consider all these aspects while making such decisions where the level playing field can be affected.
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