ESRI report makes damaging effect of guidance counselling cut clear - TUI

By piofficer, Tuesday, 12th August 2014 | 0 comments

In its initial response to the ESRI’s Leaving School in Ireland Longitudinal Study, TUI President Gerry Quinn highlighted the damaging effect of cuts to guidance counselling provision.

“Of great concern in this report are the issues raised regarding constraints on time for guidance counselling, particularly for more personalised, one-to-one discussion. This situation has been exacerbated by the cutback to guidance counselling provision in schools which is no longer provided as an addition to teacher allocation. This needs to be reversed as a matter of urgency. Critically, the report also  highlights that guidance counsellors emerged as a particularly strong source of support for young people from working-class backgrounds, so it is clear that the most vulnerable have been targeted by this cut in provision.

"The report also endorses alternative post-school pathways. SOLAS is a key agent as the potential funder for such pathways, and the process designed by SOLAS is and will be flawed if it does not involve all relevant parties. It is, for example, completely unacceptable that TUI, as the main union representing practitioners of further education in Ireland, is not represented on the board of SOLAS.”  
 

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