Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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133. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of allocating one guidance counsellor per 500 students in post-primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12180/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government 'A Programme for a Partnership Government' has a commitment to enhance the guidance counsellor allocation in our secondary schools.

The current budget provides an improved staffing allocation to second level schools for the purpose of enhancing guidance provision. This improvement takes effect from next September. It brings the basis of allocation from 19:1 to 18.7:1 for the 2016/17 school year. This improvement of 0.3 in PTR allocation is a restoration of 50% of the teaching resources that were removed when the allocation of guidance posts was brought within quota. DEIS schools will also further benefit from the 0.3 improvement to the staffing schedule which will give them an enhanced allocation on the basis of 17.95:1 in respect of the 2016/17 school year.

The delivery of the 50% restoration through a change in the staffing schedule will allow each school to determine how best to allocate the additional resources to meet the guidance needs of the school. The circular issued earlier this year by my Department outlining the allocation of teaching resources clearly stated that this additional resource is to complement existing resources in order to best meet the guidance needs of the school in line with the school's guidance plan.

Restoring the guidance counselling allocation to 100% will require an additional 300 teaching posts at an estimated cost of €19m per annum.

Guidance is a whole school activity where each school develops collaboratively a school guidance plan as a means of supporting the needs of its students. It is important that all groups that contribute to school life fully recognise and ensure that guidance permeates every aspect of school life. Guidance plans should outline the schools approach to guidance generally and how students can be supported and assisted in making choices and successful transitions in the personal, social, educational and career areas. The guidance plan should also distinguish between the competencies available within the school to support a student and situations where referral to the Health services or advising parents on the need to consider individual referral to a medical professional is warranted.

Any argument that a separate scheme is necessary, is implicitly saying that school principals and Boards of Management should not be entrusted to use the flexibility appropriately based on all of the school's needs. Furthermore a separate allocation creates a false demarcation and creates an impression that supporting students through guidance and counselling is dependent exclusively on the contribution of the guidance counsellor, as opposed to recognising it as a whole school activity.

In the next Budget I will consider the best approach to further meeting commitments in the Programme for Government.