Olwyn Enright
Question:192 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science his plans to increase the ratio of career guidance counsellors to students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14977/02]
Written Answers. - School Staffing.
All second level schools in the free education scheme have an ex-quota allocation in respect of guidance. The allocation for individual schools for a school year is determined by the enrolment in the school at the end of the preceding school year. The allocation varies between 44 hours per week for schools with enrolments of 1,000 or more pupils to 8 hours per week in the case of schools with enrolments of less than 200 pupils.
There are now more guidance counsellors employed by schools than at any previous time. A total of 630 whole-time teacher equivalents, inclusive of the 50 posts which were allocated under the guidance enhancement initiative, were allocated to second level schools in the 2001-02 school year. As a result, schools, whatever their size, are in a position to ensure that pupils have access to counselling and career guidance by qualified personnel.
The question of increasing the allocation to second level schools in respect of guidance will be considered in the context of available resources and having regard to the recommendations of the report of the expert group on the allocation of teachers to second level schools.