Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 December 2021
296. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Education if her Department is making progress to ensure that all pupils attending school are offered career guidance especially those with a disability such as Down syndrome; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59815/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraGuidance Counselling at post primary level is holistic and includes Career Guidance, Educational Guidance and Personal and Social Guidance. All mainstream schools receive a Guidance allocation and have been asked to provide Guidance using a continuum of support model which supports schools in identifying and responding to students’ needs (for All, for Some, for a Few) in particular students requiring more targeted Guidance support. Using this model helps to ensure that interventions are incremental, moving from class-based interventions to more intensive and individualised support, and that they are informed by careful monitoring of progress. A student with Downs Syndrome would likely fall into the ‘few’ category and receive more targeted Guidance support.
The most recent Circulars on Staffing Arrangements for 2021/22 set out in Appendix 3:
Whole-school Guidance plans should outline the school’s approach to Guidance generally using the continuum of support model (All, Some, Few) and describe how students will be supported and assisted in making choices and successful transitions in the personal and social, educational and career areas It is recommended that the time provided for student appointments should represent a sufficient proportion of the overall allocation of Guidance hours required for the one-to-one guidance counselling necessary to meet the needs of students under the Continuum of Support model .
Special Schools are designated as primary schools and so are not currently provided with an allocation for Guidance Counselling. In 2019 the Indecon report of the independent review of Career Guidance tools and information was published setting out 18 recommendations under four themes, one of which relates to Inclusion. The recommendations under that theme proposed the following:
- Introduce a specific module on career guidance as part of training for teachers in special schools.
- Provide additional specialised ongoing CPD supports for teachers in special schools.
- Prioritise resource allocation, including guidance teachers for learners most in need of assistance.
Work is underway as to how best to implement these recommendations.
A number of officials from relevant areas of the Department are working closely with the NDA and the NCSE in respect of the Inclusion recommendations related to young people with Special Educational Needs and those most in need of guidance from under-represented groups.
The Department has recently established a working group, comprising the Directors of Studies from the Higher Education Institutions who provide the Guidance Counselling programmes recognised by the Department for those working as Guidance Counsellors in Post Primary Schools. The purpose of this working group will be to consider guidance counselling post-graduate training under the inclusion/ SEN umbrella. This group plan to hold its first meeting in early January.
The National Centre for Guidance in Education delivered a webinar for guidance counsellors in October 2021 on the topic of 'Working with Students with Intellectual Disabilities' in conjunction with the NCSE, DCU, and the National Learning Network. Further webinars are planned for the future to support guidance counsellors working with students with SEN.
The Department plans to establish a National Policy Group in early 2022 to advise on a coherent, long term strategy for lifelong guidance.
