Changes In Vocational Guidance Considered

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31236, 7 December 1966, Page 22

Changes In Vocational Guidance Considered

An indication that the Education Department is aiming at a good educational and vocational guidance service within the schools with a small body of specialists outside to help has been given by the Minister of Education (Mr Kinsella) in answer to questions by “The Press”.

Mr Kinsella was asked about disquiet in the Vocational Guidance Service, the present shortage of fullytrained staff, and plans to rectify the position.

“I do not think that we have ever been completely satisfied that our careers advice service in schools and in the specialist Vocational Guidance Service was meeting all the needs,” Mr Kinsella said.

“There has undoubtedly been difficulty of staffing in recent years in the careers advice service generally, as there haas been in other sectors of the education service and also in many fields of employment requiring trained professional staff.

“In the schools themselves there has been a rapid turnover in careers teachers, particularly on the women’s side, because women get married very early, and changes in staff and promotions are occurring all the time. Even with the men's jobs there is more turn-over than we would like, mainly because opportunities for teachers to receive promotion to positions of responsibility are very good. The careers advice service within the schools is therefore handicapped to some extent and this throws unecessary strain on the specialist Vocational Guidance Service at a time when it, too. is having great difficulty in attracting and retaining competent staff. The vocational guidance officers should be dealing only with cases that cannot be satisfactory handled within the schools,” said the Minister.

Employers’ Needs “There is another problem in that some employers or groups of employers tend to look on the Vocational Guidance Service partly, at least, as a placement service. This is not its function at all. “Nevertheless employers may feel that if there were a vocational guidance centre in their own city or town they would get a greater share of the school-leavers. I do not i think that this necessarily follows.

“At any rate, for the reason that we believe we could use our officers more effectively if they were nearer the schools they serve, we have adopted the policy of establishing vocational guidance offices in large provincial centres. The first one was Hamilton for the Waikato and this was followed by Napier for Gisborne-Hawke’s Bay. “Representations have been made for a centre for the Wanganui-Palmerston North area. We would hope to move into this area when we can see that we have sufficient trained staff to support and maintain another centre. In the meantime a decision on a new centre in this area has been deferred. “The total establishment of the Vocational Guidance Service is 49 officers, and four positions are vacant at present. Half the officers are experienced. The centres not fully staffed are in Dunedin, Lower Hutt and Napier. The establishment of officers in each centre is determined by the State Services Commission and is based substantially on

the secondary school population in the area served,” said Mr Kinsella. “There are proposals before the Government for an increase in the establishment of the Vocational Guidance Service, one of the main reasons for an increase being the increasing call on the resources of the service by Maori pupils. Many of these are in district high schools where there is no official careers adviser, but even in the high schools Maori pupils often have particular vocational problems which require the advice of a vocational guidance officer. “The future development of the service is being looked at along with the establishment of general counselling services in our larger high schools. The ideal would seem to be a thoroughly adequate advice service within the schools supplemented by a small body of supporting specialists. “It will be a gradual progress only towards an ideal situation of this kind. In the meantime we must do our best with the existing organisation,” said Mr Kinsella.