Ellesmere seeks guidance

Press, 24 September 1983, Page 9

Ellesmere seeks guidance

Parliamentary reporter

Ellesmere College’s lack of entitlement to a guidance counsellor was the subject of a complaint in Parliament yesterday by Labour’s education spokesman, Mr C. R. Marshall

He said that Ellesmere College was the biggest college in New Zealand without such an entitlement. He asked the Minister of Education, Mr Wellington, whether he was prepared to grant an entitlement. Mr Wellington answered indirectly by saying that Ellesmere’s guidance counselling needs were being met in part by staffing

allowances amounting to eight half-days a week. “The school supplements these allowances from within its own staffing entitlement in order to employ a teacher full-time in a guidance position,” he said. Mr Marshall said later that it was wrong for Ellesmere, which has a roll of 449 pupils, not to have an entitlement to a full-time guidance counsellor.

All schools with rolls of more than 300 needed guidance counsellors, he said. The principal of Ellesmere College, Mr Brian Devonshire, said last evening that he thought his school was being discriminated against, but that he was not sure why.

Mr Devonshire said that when Ellesmere College was constituted three years ago, there was a move to have a second counsellor in many schools, but that the Minister of Education had said no to any expansion. “But he probably forgot there was one new school starting that year, and does not want to go back on his word,” he said. “We are having to spend

the Director-General’s allowance on counselling — every school that can prove a need is entitled to 0.5 of a teacher and we have been directed by the Education Department to spend it on a guidance counsellor,” said Mr Devonshire. He said a local psychological nurse had estimated there were at least 20 pupils in the school that needed help and the school would like to be able to spend the allowance on that instead of as the department had directed. “We do need a guidance counsellor,” he said. “Our roll is rising — the latest projection is for 485 pupils next year and that is likely to rise to over 500, making it a class C school,” said Mr Devonshire. That would place Ellesmere College in the same class as schools such as Hornby and Riccarton high schools. Mr Devonshire said only one school in New Zealand of that size did not have a guidance counsellor and that was by choice:

There was a high proportion of social welfare children at Ellesmere College who needed special help, and the school was having to rob other areas to provide a guidance counsellor for them, he said. The school had repeatedly tried to attract attention to its problems, through Mr Marshall and the local member of Parliament, Miss Ruth Richardson, but Mr Wellington still has not met them to discuss the problem and Mr Devonshire believes they are being fobbed off.

“It just seems the Minister has made up his mind and will not listen to anything. I don’t know what else I can do.” he said. ,