Welcome to Kilkenny, the venue for our 2009 Conference and AGM. It is my privilege and pleasure to address you this morning as President of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.

Taking up the challenge
When Kilkenny Carlow branch chose the theme for this year’s conference, “Changing Times – Challenges and Opportunities”, few of us knew or were prepared for the scale of change we are now experiencing, brought about by the downturn in global and national economies.

Caution and pessimism have replaced optimism and enthusiasm; insecurity and doubt have replaced our new found confidence; but most of all it is the alarming pace of change, and the urgency which accompanies that change, which appear most overwhelming on the one hand and challenging on the other... 

We face the challenges of falling expectations, widespread disaffection and disillusionment among those with whom we work... Anticipating change and responding to it in a meaningful manner is the real challenge for us in our daily work.

Our Conference and Inservice is an opportunity to reflect on what these challenges pose for all guidance counsellors...

Service must be comprehensive and delivered by qualified counsellors
The need for a comprehensive guidance service from ‘earner to learner’ across all sectors of education, training and industry has never been more urgent, but it must be delivered by qualified, professional guidance counsellors, who can best assist  the individual make informed choices as to their options for the future, whether that be up-skilling, retraining, full-time or part-time education.

The role of the guidance counsellor is vital not just at the point of crisis but across the lifespan to ensure appropriate career planning which can anticipate change, adapt and embrace it.

The service must be extended in a realistic way to vulnerable groups on the margins of society who are now at risk of even greater marginalisation. Guidance counsellors  who currently work in the area of disability, the prison and probation services and with minority groups all report a growing need for increased guidance and counselling services.

In February, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan, announced funding of €50 million for retraining and up-skilling of people who have been rendered unemployed. If this is to be an effective, meaningful initiative, Guidance and Counselling services must be central to its roll-out and delivery.

We welcome input from Forfás and other agencies
One of the functions of the Institute is to liase with organisations which inform our work. I welcome the input from Forfas, the National Policy Advisory Body for Science, Technology and Innovation at this year’s conference, to inform and update us on future skills and trends in the workplace. We will continue to build on relationships with like-minded bodies to ensure a quality service to our clients, students and adults alike.

We have benefited in recent years from collaboration with agencies supported by Forfas - such as STEPS, ENGINEERING Ireland and ICT Ireland - in bringing first hand knowledge and experience of career developments in new technology areas to students in second and third level education.

For the past three years, the Institute has liaised with IBEC in running an annual conference which brings guidance counsellors and industry together. This year, in Athlone, over 150 guidance counsellors from all sectors received up to date job and career information and made valuable connections with employers in Pharmachem, IT and Retail sectors and made valuable contacts for industry visits, career events and work experience.

We are already discussing next year’s programme with IBEC which will build on the success of previous conferences.

Supervision, Professional Support
Guidance Counsellors working in second and further education are already dealing with students who are concerned and worried about the uncertain economic circumstances they find themselves in. In this regard I would like at this point to thank Teacher Education Support (TES) for their continued support of Supervision, Professional Support for guidance counsellors in their counselling work. 

The success of this essential service is due in no small way to the collaboration of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors at local and national level through a joint steering committee representing TES, the Institute, the Guidance Inspectorate and Monaghan Education Centre.

The institute’s sub committee on supervision in the past year alone has sourced and organised a training course, through TCD, especially for supervisors of second level guidance counsellors, when this need became apparent. Applicants applied and were interviewed in the summer, and 13 people are on the course, which I am positive will add greatly to the quality of supervision services.

The Committee has also drafted a code of ethics for supervisors, and surveyed the membership through a needs analysis survey, the results of which were presented at the second annual in-service for Supervisors in Mullingar in September 2008.  

This model of collaboration can be extended to all agencies, state and voluntary, which are involved in guidance and counselling, to support the work of guidance counsellors.

There is an urgent need for continued professional development and support. I see it as my role, as president of the institute, to bring this urgency to all the aforementioned bodies so that they can reassess their services in the light of our current needs and those of our clients.

We ask Principals to allow time for supervision and in-service training
While best practice dictates all guidance counsellors should be in supervision, this message has still to filter through to some school principals, to allow a non-timetabled afternoon to attend supervision and in-service training. The cutbacks in supervision have made it impossible for guidance counsellors tied into blocked timetables to be released, as there is no substitution cover since January.

I will write to principals again this year in relation to this matter and will look again for support from the guidance inspectorate.

We are concerned that students are not getting 'appropriate guidance'
It is a matter of grave concern to us that students aren’t getting ‘appropriate guidance’ guaranteed them by Section 9c of the Education Act 1998. It has becomes impossible to attend career events, local and national, college open days and industry visits. These links are a vital part of the process of helping students to make informed decisions about their futures. The cutbacks are short sighted and will have lasting effects into the future.

I have already referred to the social and personal dimension of our work in these changing times. It is left to the guidance counsellor to help students who become disillusioned or disgruntled with an education system experiencing severe cutbacks, with reduced funding for progressive elements such as JSCP, LCA, LCVP and Transition year programmes. 

We are not alone in flagging the need for restoring funding in these areas. The Irish Association of Suicidology has already highlighted the need for more supports for young people who may turn to alcohol, drugs or suicide to alleviate dissatisfaction and depression.

• I ask the Minister to ensure that the ex quota allocation for guidance be used solely for guidance and counselling and that it be delivered by qualified personnel in all schools.  
• Secondly, I propose that all guidance counsellors have one non-timetabled afternoon per week  to facilitate continuing professional development and attendance at Supervision, Professional Support. Non-timetabled means no substitution necessary and therefore no cost.

Both of these proposals are cost neutral.

Research by Dáil na nÓg
I was invited to meet with Dáil na nÓg Council on Education Reform in September '08. The group wanted to conduct research on guidance and counselling services in schools.  

Last month, they made their recommendations to the Minister of State for Children, Mr Barry Andrews, and other stakeholders in guidance. These recommendations included:

• that all students should have a minimum number of hours for guidance and counselling allocated to them;
• that the service should be more flexible to cater for individual needs. 

They identified the importance of prevention and early detection of issues of concern and wanted to be involved in a meaningful way in guidance planning. 

They are the clients, who is listening to them??

Report published by Inspectorate
As I said last night, we welcome the publication ‘Looking at Guidance’ from the Education Support Unit of the Inspectorate, based on 55 Guidance inspections between 2006/2007.

We can concur with most of the findings and recommendations. The report enables everyone involved in whole school guidance to confirm and review their interactive roles. The report is a positive reinforcement of our position in schools re provision and planning, the quality of teaching and learning and the quality of assessment. We are doing a good job!

I would urge you all to read it. It is available on the DES website. It provides an opportunity for us to dialogue with the inspectors to improve the evaluation process.

Major reservation
Our major reservation and concern about the report is that it is based on a subject template and it fails completely to evaluate the one-to-one dimension of our work and all our counselling activities, personal, vocational and educational. Therefore we are only seeing parts of the picture. Essential elements are missing! Many guidance counsellors feel very aggrieved about this.

The Institute is actively addressing this issue and hopes to produce a template for inspection which will encompass all our guidance and counselling activities.

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the inspectorate and to take this opportunity to wish Niamh Mernagh and Caitlin Brennan, who carried out many of the inspections in the report in a most professional and courteous manner, well in their retirement. We look forward to meeting and working with their replacements in the future.

This year's Policy Document
In the midst of doom and gloom, The Institute published a Policy Document this year, prepared by Breeda Coyle and Arthur Dunne, 'A Whole School Guidance and Counselling Service and Curriculum -Roles and Relationships'.

The launch of the document by Sr. Una Collins highlighted and reminded us of one of the fundamental roles of the Institute: "to promote research in the fields of guidance and counselling".

Research to be prioritised
I have consulted with your representatives on the National Executive and it has been decided to put research at the forefront of our endeavours to ensure the institute remains at the centre of all guidance debates. We are investigating financial structures to facilitate both research and publication on an annual basis. We look forward to engaging with the other stakeholders and drawing on their resources and expertise in our common goal of promoting guidance and counselling for all. 

Insufficient funds to provide full-time president
I know you realise that resources do not allow the institute to fund a full-time president and I am very conscious that a part time president cannot deliver a service that the institute and its members deserve. I do hope to continue to serve you to the best of my ability over the coming year.

Tributes
I want to pay tribute to former presidents, to Gerry Flynn VP, to the officers, and to members of the national executive for their unstinting efforts on your behalf, all of which is done on a voluntary basis. I would like to thank our staff in head office for their efficiency and professionalism at all times.

Éilis Coakley
President, Institute of Guidance Counsellors