Guiding lights, day and night

My Education Week: Gerry Flynn, President of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors

SATURDAY

The Institute of Guidance Counsellors has 1,250 members working at second level, in colleges of further education, in adult guidance, at third level, in private practice and in some State agencies. It is supported by a small team of staff.

It is essential that we continually capture the views of members and reflect them in national policy. Engaging with members and external stakeholders takes up a huge amount of my time.

I work between my home, in Clonmel, and our head office, in Dublin, so early starts and late nights are the norm.

Our monthly national-executive meeting is on today. We have a number of subcommittees which involve members in setting direction, and I try to meet them before each national-executive meeting.

Dominating most discussions has been the comments made by Minister of State for Mental Health Kathleen Lynch at the press launch of the national mental-health guidelines for schools.

She said, “Whether it’s the caretaker, the person serving the food, the guidance counsellor, the principal, the teacher or the classroom assistant”, responding to the mental-health issues of pupils was “the business of everyone in the school”.

Guidance counsellors were incensed by these comments, with members expressing their deep disappointment and incredulity at the disconnect between policymakers and what is happening in schools across the country.

We discuss the findings of a recently completed national audit which found that the time devoted to one-to-one counselling in schools and colleges has been reduced by a staggering 51.4 per cent.

There is an update on planning for the national conference and in-service day to be held in Sligo in March. Plans are well advanced, thanks to the hardworking local committee in Sligo and the conference organiser. The Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan, is the keynote speaker. A very interesting menu of workshops has been planned, and interest among members is high. I leave for home at 5pm.

SUNDAY

This Sunday is different from most, as there is an anniversary Mass for my father-in-law. I count at least 37 extended family members there, which reflects the esteem in which he was held. Normally, my wife, Anne, and I go for a long walk on Sundays. This is cut short as family members head back to Dublin and we attend a fundraiser for my niece, who is going to Uganda on volunteer work in early July.

MONDAY

As a relatively small organisation, communication is direct and engagement with members is essential. Things tend to move along quite quickly.

I receive a call from Kim Murphy of Fianna Fáil requesting that we present the results of the national audit to the parliamentary party on Wednesday. I finalise my report for the national conference handbook on my work since taking over as president. It has been a hectic eight months, with a lot of change.

The removal, in the budget, of ring-fenced funding for guidance counselling is causing a lot of difficulties in schools. There has been an increasing demand from students for personal counselling, but there is less time to attend to them. In some schools, only extreme emergency cases are dealt with. It is a very sad reflection on our Government’s priorities.

I prepare for a meeting with the departmental inspectorate, which we requested last year to represent members’ concerns.

TUESDAY

I receive a call from Patricia Behan, CEO of Suicide Aware, and get feedback about a positive mental-health programme which members in our Cork branch jointly ran with them, for more than 2,600 transition-year students in Cork city and county. We have been asked to partner them in rolling out a national programme promoting positive mental health.

After lunch I go to Dublin and work in head office until 9pm.

WEDNESDAY

I return to head office and then go on to the meeting with the departmental inspectors. There have been major changes in the inspectorate: there is now only one inspector with a background in guidance counselling. Our meeting with the assistant chief inspectors is quite extensive. We articulate our concerns, present the national audit findings and outline the increasing workload on members. This is a huge issue, as schools expect a full service, despite the significant reductions in the time available to provide the service.

After a debriefing with colleagues who attended the meeting, I return to the office to deal with queries from members.

In the afternoon I head to Leinster House and bump into Damien English, chairperson of the Oireachtas subcommittee on jobs and social protection. He promises us an opportunity to address the committee. I meet Pat Leahy from the Sunday Business Post. Pat’s dad, Seamus, and I worked together for years and are quite involved in two local charities in Clonmel. We also share a common interest in the fortunes of Tipperary hurling. The briefing to the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party is well attended: Micheál Martin and most of the front bench are there.

THURSDAY

The institute receives a lot of requests from postgraduate students to access our members’ database. While we are keen to assist and support research, we do not allow direct access because of data-protection legislation. I respond to some requests and advise members who have individual requests for assistance.

FRIDAY

Today begins with work on our upcoming national conference. We are fortunate to have many members, active and retired, to advise on complex issues which arise occasionally. Our strong links with course directors in the third-level training courses are very valuable.

When courses are changed, details have to be submitted to our qualifications-and-membership subcommittee, and, when the committee is satisfied, it submits its recommendation to the national executive for consideration. All of this work requires a very large voluntary input by committee members. I am not sure the general membership realise the enormous additional duties committee members undertake to ensure the institute functions properly.

On Friday afternoon I do some preparatory work on my address for the national conference and draft a report on a recent meeting with HSE officials.

I am looking forward to the weekend – my first at home for three weeks.