Call for proper access to career advice for students

The cost of students dropping out of college could be reduced significantly if they had proper access to career advice at school, says a guidance counsellors’ leader.

The problems faced by students who do not progress to second year at third-level was raised at an Oireachtas committee this week.

TDs and senators were told by a Department of Education official that a new national access plan for higher education will aim to have support systems in place to make sure students choose courses best suited to them so they are at less risk of dropping out of college.

Institute of Guidance Counsellors president Betty McLaughlin said students could be helped make better choices if they had more access to the right advice.

The loss of guaranteed guidance provision in schools as a result of second-level staffing changes in 2012 will be a key issue again at the IGC annual conference starting in Waterford today.

“A figure of €32m a year is supposed to be saved by schools having no quota of guidance counsellors, but that’s very small when you think of students who drop out of college and then go on job seekers’ allowance just because they had the wrong information,” Ms McLaughlin said.