STUDENTS are not getting the basic information they need at school, according to the Institute of Guidance Counsellors. The number of calls to the National Leaving Cert Helpline has almost trebled this year.
The level of information being sought is also far more basic, such as students not knowing the difference between a level 8 (honours degree) and a level 7 (ordinary degree) course.
Don Myers, president of the National Parents’ Council Post-Primary, said one reason for the increased volume of queries was “the variety of different science courses and engineering courses”.
Betty McLaughlin, president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, said she was not surprised to see such an increase in calls and queries given the cut to the provision of guidance counselling in 2012. She claimed students are not given the basic knowledge they need to do the Leaving Cert or to work out the right course for them.
“What’s worrying about the queries we’ve received is that we used to only get calls about the specific difference between courses. Now there is absolutely no guidance there in schools,” she said.
Advertisement
The national helpline, which offers support to parents, students and teachers, opened on August 12 and closed last Wednesday.
Jan O’Sullivan, the minister for education, visited the call centre last week and was presented with a pre-budget submission from the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.
Conor Brady, page 11