Education holds a significant position in societies, and its outcomes lead most sectors of the country. Education is closely linked to issues of comprehensive development and serves as a means for social and economic mobility in any country. This has made focusing on education essential to keep up with civilizational progress, technological advancement, and the information explosion. Education alone has the power to build individuals and generations, develop ideas, and prepare people able of adapting to the future and its implications, as well as anticipating its risks . This can only be achieved by focusing on the core of the educational process, which is the learner—psychologically, pedagogically, and academically—while also preparing them professionally to lead the path of development. Therefore, guidance and counseling services were introduced in educational institutions due to their importance in shaping the student’s personality and supporting their choices. So, what is the nature and difference between both, guidance and counseling? What are the stages of the development of guidance and counseling in general and in Algeria in particular? Furthermore, what are the principles and objectives that guidance aims to achieve, as well as the difficulties that hinder the counseling process in educational institutions and prevent it from achieving its intended goals? Lastly, what are the prospects we aspire to for guidance and counseling?

School Guidance - Educational Counseling - Guidance Counselor Services - Challenges - Prospects.