TEACHERS have called on parents to become more active in the fight to save guidance counsellor roles in schools.

At its annual conference in Cork yesterday, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) said that the most vulnerable students would be let down by the axeing of guidance counselling. From September, career guidance counsellors will be included in the number of teachers allocated to a school.

Up until now they have not been included in the school's teacher quota. Teachers claim that in order to cope with the guidance counsellor being part of the allocated staff, they would lose another teacher, and therefore subjects would be dropped.

Kevin Brogan of the Drogheda Sean Higgins branch called on the National Parents' Council and the Joint Management Board to take a more active role in opposing the changes. "As a parent, I would be horrified if this happened at my child's school because the bottom line is that a subject will be lost," he said.

The ASTI also claims the cuts will lead to an increase in early school dropouts.

Majella O'Sullivan, Irish Independent, 11/4/2012
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