Development of school counselling services urged

The need to develop counselling services in schools was underlined yesterday by Education Minister Louis Galea during the first national conference organised by the Malta Association for the Counselling Profession.

The minister said so far guidance and counselling have been offered by the same personnel, and because school counsellors are inundated with personal counselling issues from students, the guidance programme in school often suffers.

"The time has come to look at both professions individually, evaluate the needs of each sector and create frameworks that will offer an effective, quality service," he said, adding that there was also a need to work at improving the training opportunities of counsellors.

He said a number of counsellors are trained to post-graduate diploma level and cannot train any further because there are no courses at higher levels, and discussion with the Faculty of Education was needed to find a solution.

"It is our aim within the ministry to evaluate the current situation of the counselling services in our schools. We aim to formulate a clear policy framework and structure within which counsellors can work effectively," he argued.

The minister said the ultimate aim was the provision of quality education for all, and counselling had a crucial role to play in this.

Dr Galea noted that counselling involved working with clients to assist them to identify and clarify their concerns, formulate options for positive change, and understand the consequences of particular courses of action. It also encouraged the client to believe in themselves and their personal strengths.

"Counselling helps individuals look for the good in themselves," Dr Galea said. "The good can be used as a model for the things we would like to change.

"I believe counselling to be a change process in which people are helped to express themselves better in a safe, non-judgmental environment.

"Counselling helps us clarify our problems and also to identify non-helpful modes of behaviour. Through a healthy counselling rapport clients can learn how to cope better with life situations."

The minister explained that over the past two decades the local counselling profession has grown and there are now professional counsellors in various fields, such as education, drug rehabilitation and marital problems.

School counselling, he said, had become an essential service offered to students and the ministry was determined to develop the service further in the near future.

"School counselling plays an important role in supporting the personal, social and intellectual development of each student," he said.

"However, it must be acknowledged that schools do not and should not have the sole responsibility to support the needs of students.

"The role of the school should be part of a broader collaborative response by the community to the issues faced by young people in society."