School guidance cuts may be worse than expected

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has admitted the cutback in guidance for second-level students is even worse than counsellors themselves have claimed.

The preliminary findings of a survey sought by his department shows most schools are losing an hour a day of guidance services because of staffing changes he introduced in September, with larger schools losing more than double that.

While describing it as less than was being claimed to be lost, Mr Quinn said a survey sought by his department shows guidance hours have been cut by 25%.