Vol. 532 No. 2
91 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Education and Science the plans he has in respect of the career guidance and counselling services in post primary schools; his views on whether the current allocation ratios severely restrict the effectiveness of this service; if he will give a commitment to restore the 250:1 ratio which obtained in the early 1980's prior to the cutbacks in education spending; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6965/01]
I have recently announced that 50 additional posts for guidance and counselling will be allocated to schools to develop innovative ways of enhancing guidance for students and to promote links between schools, business, voluntary and State agencies. I hope to be in a position to make a further announcement in relation to guidance in schools in the near future.
In relation to the current availability of guidance services, I have recently received the results of an audit of all second-level schools, conducted on behalf of my Department by the National Centre for Guidance in Education. It is clear from the audit that a significant number of schools are not fully utilising the resources currently being made available to them by my Department for guidance and that, in many schools, the service is not adequately targeted at pupils at risk.
In these circumstances, my first priority is to ensure that the resources made available to schools for guidance are fully utilised for that purpose. In line with the Government's priority to promote social inclusion, my other concern is to ensure that those young people who are most at risk of dropping out of education early are a major focus of guidance provision in schools. As a result, any future enhancement of provision to individual schools will be conditional on their making a commitment to providing a service to all their pupils in ways which would reflect both Government priorities and pupils' needs.
Question No. 92 answered with Question No. 89.
