Ms Mai Fanning:

An allocation of 120 posts was made, but it was not stipulated that those posts would be restricted to just counsellors and not be given to the whole school guidance. We would favour those 120 posts being for guidance counsellors only. We have only just started getting our schools open. As we go through, the importance of professional guidance counsellors within the school system particularly at second level will become increasingly clear.

We are back to home tuition and home learning. That is totally dependent on the schools. It has not been made clear, either by schools or the Department, what facilities will be there for children who would need to remove themselves from school for a particular reason. I revert to those children who are classed as being either risk or high-risk. A child who is not classed as high-risk but just risk may have a high-risk person at home and may not be in a position to go to school. We need clarification on home-schooling and remote learning for those children.

If an issue arises in a school, the guidance counsellors will need to be there in order to not only offer academic support and guidance to the children but also the psychological supports that will be needed. In dealing with anything that breaks out in the schools, we have to ensure that everything is done in a calm and cohesive manner to avoid putting excess anxiety on the children and their families. That will only come if there is good communication, a matter to which all of the groups have alluded. It must work both ways and not just come from the Department to schools and parents. Parental concerns must be fed back so that they can be addressed by the schools and the Department.