School counsellors

While sympathising with the sad situation that many teachers face as they exercise their profession as described by Dr Sandro Caruana (The Sunday Times, November 5), it is important to note that schools may avail themselves of the services of school counsellors apart from those provided by educational psychologists and social workers.

School counsellors have long offered a sterling service within our educational system even though they are overloaded with work themselves. The number of counsellors within schools is not enough to give the adequate ongoing service they wish. Apart from individual and group counselling sessions, school counsellors need to liaise with different helping professions and agencies, attend case conferences when needed and have meetings with parents and teachers. They also need to reflect and decide on the ideal way of proceeding according to the case in question.

Another interesting point that Dr Caruana made is the importance of the presence of teachers with the right qualifications. Since inception the association has always had in mind the provision of training opportunities not only for counsellors but for anyone who is interested in improving his/her skills. To this end, the Malta Association for the Counselling Profession has organised annual training weeks and national conferences where foreign professionals in the field were invited, as well as a number of short courses.

The MACP intends to keep up its commitment towards the professional development of counsellors and of all those who are interested in being of help to others.