JOB DESCRIPTION OF SCHOOL COUNSELLORS

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JOB DESCRIPTION OF SCHOOL COUNSELLORS: * * *

4.

Dr Fatimah Lateef asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the exact job description of school counsellors; (b) if schools may draw up their own guidelines or insert modifications to the one suggested by the Ministry; and (c) whether duties such as patrolling and policing the area outside the school perimeter are covered in the job description.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: The purpose of the Full-Time School Counsellor (FTSC) scheme is to build a pool of counsellors to meet the counselling needs of schools and assist schools in the delivery of prevention-oriented guidance programmes.

The job of the FTSCs includes the following duties:

(1) Provide counselling services to pupils who require assistance in overcoming personal difficulties and to better support their learning needs;

(2) Provide consultation to teachers, parents and community partners on ways to assist pupils through their difficulties;

(3) Develop and deliver prevention-oriented programmes to build social and emotional competencies in identified groups of pupils, for example, FTSCs could conduct small group instruction for pupils who lack academic motivation or require help in stress management;

(4) Develop counselling support structures to ensure the smooth delivery of counselling and guidance programmes. These include systems to identify pupils with social and emotional problems requiring counselling intervention and training of staff on specific issues confronting pupils.

Schools are given the autonomy to assign specific duties and responsibilities to their FTSCs based on schools' needs. For example, schools with fewer pupils who need counselling may request their FTSCs to spend more time developing and conducting prevention-oriented programmes.

The duties of patrolling the area outside of the school perimeter, however, are usually undertaken by the school's Discipline Committee in conjunction with the police rather than by the FTSC.