Cutbacks ‘destroying education system’

Children with severe mental health issues and others who are homeless are being left without help in Ireland’s secondary schools because guidance counsellor cutbacks have “destroyed” the education system.

At the second day of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland annual general meeting in Kilkenny, teachers warned that vulnerable children are slipping through the net due to the impact of austerity.

Criticising the situation in a motion which received unanimous backing from 400 delegates, Helen Mahony, a teacher at Ballyfermot further education in West Dublin, said Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has “effectively destroyed the education system” by removing guidance counsellors from some schools.

He accused the Labour TD of being “the worst minister I’ve ever seen”, warned that among the children and teens affected are those who are “homeless in some cases” and others who have severe, mental health issues.

Her concern was echoed by fellow delegate Fergal McCarthy, who said schools are now been forced to choose between a guidance counsellor and equally important services — a situation, he said, is “the most cynical cut” yet to hit the sector.

Dublin-based teacher Diarmuid Finnegan said he is aware of one incident in the south-east where a child facing a crisis “ended up in hospital” because no guidance counsellor was available in their school.

Responding to the concerns, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said he would “like to see more [guidance counsellors] in schools” due to the “serious problems now around mental health,” which are increasingly affecting teenagers, but that he is still obliged to balance the budget.

Mr Quinn came in for criticism over contracts of indefinite duration problems which effectively mean some young teachers are being forced to live on the breadline.