Many school principals regard guidance as a priority area which is more important than the introduction of new courses or the purchase of computers, according to a report to be launched today by the National Centre for Guidance in Education. The report, entitled Principals' Perceptions of the Guidance Service in Post-Pri- mary Schools, shows that the greatest concern of principals is the capacity of schools to respond to the increase in personal and social problems among students. Training needs to be improved to equip guidance counsellors to cope, they say.

A fire brigade service - that's how many guidance counsellors describe the work they're doing in schools. Schools' guidance and counselling is of vital importance for students' wellbeing and future success in life. However, many counsellors believe that, because of the limitations faced by the profession, many children are being short-changed. The service, they say, is patchy - some youngsters enjoy enviable facilities while others have none at all.

One of the main problems is the fact that many second-level schools are still completely lacking in guidance counselling services. "I work on help-lines after the Leaving Cert results come out," says a Dublin-based guidance counsellor, "and I'm constantly amazed at the ignorance that's out there. Students from smaller schools, where no guidance is available, simply haven't a clue - even about the most basic things."

Figures for 1994 show that only 250 second-level schools in the country qualify for the services of at least one full-time equivalent guidance counsellor. Currently, schools with an enrolment of over 1,000 are allowed two guidance counsellors while schools with an enrolment of between 250 and 499 are allowed only a half-time counsellor and schools with fewer than 150 students are permitted only a couple of hours guidance counselling each week.

The ideal, say guidance counsellors, is a ratio of one to 250. In the event, what schools are allowed to have and what some actually offer in terms of guidance and counselling are two entirely different matters. Many guidance counsellors are forced to split their time between guidance/counselling and teaching. They report real difficulties in getting through their work.

"I'm a full-time guidance counsellor in a school of 400 boys," says Kevin Lewis, St Mary's College, Rathmines, Dublin. "My time is fully occupied and I cannot understand how guidance counsellors can cope when they also have to fulfil teaching duties."

Lewis says he is able to offer a careers programme in Transition Year - "once the CAO is out of the way they can concentrate on their studies." Initial student contact is made in first year - "this means I'm not meeting them for the first time in a crisis situation."

Guidance counselling works best when the principal is totally committed to the service, counsellors say. Principals who are less than committed sometimes give guidance counselling hours to subject teachers who are untrained in the area. In some instances administrative assistants are delivering guidance.

Sources claim that, in a small number of cases, principals who are reluctant to employ guidance counsellors make a point of advertising posts late. They can then report with a clear conscience that no guidance counsellors are available. Such schools may prefer to spend money allocated to guidance on subject teaching.

"The Department of Education could easily prevent this," says a guidance counsellor. "All they have to do is withhold the money that should be spent on guidance rather than allowing it to go into a central pool."

The National Centre for Guidance in Education's report, Guidelines for the Practice of Guidance and Counsel- ling in Schools, sets out the specific responsibilities of the guidance counsellor. These are wide-ranging and include counselling on personal, educational and career issues, consultations with parents, teachers, school management and referral agencies, and conducting academic, occupational and personal assessments of students.

Guidance counsellors are also required to help students acquire information to assist them with their decision-making and give classroom guidance in a range of activities, including skills enhancement and personal development programmes. Vocational preparation - arranging work experience, visits to workplaces and the like - is also part of the guidance counsellors remit.

Given the range of responsibilities, it's little wonder that even full-time, highly committed, but thinly spread, guidance counsellors find it difficult to fulfil their roles.

The new Leaving Cert Applied and Vocational programmes have increased significantly the guidance counsellors' workload. Although the CAO/CAS system has simplified third-level admission procedures in the Republic, schools now have to examine options in private third-level colleges and in colleges in Britain and Northern Ireland.

Social problems are increasing and guidance counsellors report that the amount of counselling work they are required to do is growing. Even when a youngster has a study problem you often find that the root cause is a problem at home, they say.

"If people have problems or are worried their energies are not focussed," says a guidance counsellor. "It's difficult to teach them about careers. You have to work with students and help them to understand themselves, otherwise all the information in the world can be wasted." Guidance is a lot easier with students who are mature and understand themselves, this guidance counsellor says.

Counselling is time-consuming, one-to-one work. Many guidance counsellors find that much of the work has to be done out of school hours and some report that they are on call around the clock.

A major problem for many guidance counsellors is the fact that they have so few options when students need to be referred to other agencies. The schools psychological service is vastly overstretched and guidance counsellors are left to cope as best they can.

"The number of youngsters you can support on a regular basis is limited," says a full-time community school counsellor. "You have to let some people go, having provided insufficient support and counselling."

Should the guidance and counselling roles be separated? Absolutely not, say guidance counsellors. The fact that the roles are combined means that it's easier for both students and their parents, who wish to discuss personal problems, to avail of the service.

"The fact that a student is queueing to see me could mean that he needs some career or course advice," explains a boys' school guidance counsellor. "He won't have to admit in public that he wants to talk about a personal problem." Guidance counsellors say that in some schools careers guidance starts only in sixth year and that this is too late. "It's a process that needs to start earlier," one guidance counsellor comments. "I'm the only guidance counsellor in a school of 650. I'm trying to do a lot of things but I can't do them. If you are to be effective you need to be proactive in helping children make informed subject choices around their strengths and weaknesses and around third-level course requirements."

Without advice less academic children can find themselves taking on too heavy an academic work-load which can make their school lives difficult and mar their chances of getting a good Leaving Cert. "Post Junior Cert subject choice is very important," she says. "Highly motivated youngsters are no problem but you need individual contact with a portion of youngsters who are less able and less focused."

Money is a major issue for some guidance counsellors. Many of them report that they have to fund resource materials out of their own pockets. "I've just paid £27 for the UCAS guidebooks, but the school won't reimburse the money," reports a guidance counsellor, who attended this year's Higher Options Conference at the RDS.

Many guidance counsellors are operating in unsatisfactory conditions. "Guidance counsellors need an office where they can meet students or parents in privacy, a telephone and a computer," they say. Father John Dunne, guidance counsellor at Gonzaga College, Dublin, estimates that only one-third of schools are offering careers guidance through information technology. "Information technology systems are the ideal way of keeping up to date on careers and courses information," he says. They have the added advantage, he notes, of giving students first-hand experience of the benefits of information technology.