 Let's talk. Let's talk. Hello and welcome to a new season of Let's Talk. My name is Sunil Neptune. In today's program, we speak on school guidance counseling within the education sector. And with me to discuss this topic is the coordinator of guidance counseling, Joyce Lynn Eugene. Welcome to the program. Thank you. First of all, before we begin our discussion, can you tell us what is guidance counseling? Guidance counseling refers to a program that is being administered to students in schools. But it was specifically designed to help students transition into their career and into college level education. However, this has changed a little bit. And we are now focused more on school counseling, which is a much broader area that it covers. OK, and you mentioned that it's a much broader area. What is different with school counseling right now? School counseling really embraces the personal and social development of the student, the academic needs of the student, and also their career and college readiness levels. With the guidance counseling, it was more directed towards more of the college and career readiness. So this one now has more of a holistic approach towards counseling within the education sector, within the school framework. OK, and what is the genesis of such an initiative? How did it start? There are a number of years that there were no school counselors. There were no counselors in schools. However, Ministry of Education started the program in 1992 was when the first guidance counselor, because that's what we referred to her as at the time. First guidance counselor was appointed at Cassie's Comprehensive Secondary School in the person of Mrs. Virginia Dauvain. Since Mrs. Dauvain, three other counselors were put in specific schools. Leon H. Comprehensive School is Josephine Romain. We had not Clinton Mason, sorry, George Charles Secondary School, Mrs. Kashina Emmanuel. And Viewford Comprehensive School, Mrs. Patsy Paulette. So these were the first persons who were employed by Ministry of Education to provide counseling in those four secondary schools. And has it been proven that what it is now is better than what is obtained in the past? Well, when we talk about proven, I'm not sure what we would use to prove that it was better. What I can say is that since that era, we now have 31 counselors operating within the education system. We have eight education district guidance counselors, one per education district, and then we have 22 secondary school counselors. Each secondary school on the island has its own school counselor. So in that way, it is more efficient, it's more effective. And well, I guess the services that are provided would be what would help to prove the efficiency of that program. And you mentioned that there are district counselors and also there are school counselors. What is really the job of the district counselors? Is it a lot different? We know it would be a lot different from the school counselors, but what is really the job of the district counselors? The district counselors provide the school counseling program to the primary schools. But also they supervise the work of the secondary school counselors. So really and truly in each district, that one district counselor has responsibility for the counseling needs of all of the students within their educational district. Great. And what are the objectives of the school, of school counseling, well, guidance counseling? Okay. When we talk about school counseling, school counseling really has to meet the developmental needs of the students on an academic level. So we are guided by a framework that has academic standards and competencies where at each developmental level, that's the student from K to 12, grade K, that's kindergarten all the way to 12, which would be lower six and upper six of your A-level program. Each of these students, they have various needs. So the school guidance counseling program works together with the other education initiatives to ensure that these students are meeting their milestones, they are growing developmentally in terms of their personal social development and that they are exposed to programs that will help them think about their future, their career and so on at the different levels. That's what we do. With all of those duties and those responsibilities of a counselor, what is required for one to become a counselor? Well, a school counselor, we require a master's in school counseling. Of course, a person may have a bachelor's degree in behavioral sciences, a bachelor's degree in psychology and so on, but that must be talked of with a master's in counseling and of course, preferably school counseling. Okay, wonderful. We are due for a break. So when we return, we will definitely continue our discussion as it relates to what is required for one to become a guidance counselor. What's in the food you're eating? Do you really even know? All the chemicals and hormones used to accelerate their growth. All the artificial flavoring, sweeteners and colors too. We consume and we don't spare a thought for the damage that they'll do. No. Think about the children. How will we save them? Chemicals and GMOs are not the solution. Use organic and join. Excessive agrochemical use, additives and genetically modified foods are harmful to health and the environment. Join the Good Food Revolution. Grow, buy and consume organic. A message from Rye St. Lucia and the Ministry of Sustainable Development with funding from the GEF Small Grants Program, UNDP. Good food, good food, Good food revolution. Welcome back to Let's Talk. We will continue our discussion with a Joyce Lynn Eugene on school guidance counseling. Before we took our break, we were discussing in terms of what is one expected to have in order for them to become a counselor. And we will mention in the qualifications. But besides needing a master's in school counseling, what other qualities would one need to become a guidance counselor? Okay. When we're talking about counseling and school counseling, we're really referring to relationship. So really and truly, the counselor needs to be someone who has a good rapport with people. That person must love people and really be interested in, you know, seeing a person develop, seeing a person flourish and seeing a person find ways to resolve the issues that might be impeding on their growth. So we want someone who embraces the value of genuineness. You want a person who has respect for other persons, who has a high level of integrity. You want someone who understands the value of confidentiality. That person has to know that their role is to protect the integrity of the client at all times, regardless of the age or the stage of development of that child. Yes, and for sure, confidentiality is very important. And with all of those things that a counselor will be bringing to the school, what are some of the challenges that the counselor sees on a day-to-day basis? Wow. We have a number of challenges. But I think one of the main challenges is that a lot of persons have not yet understood what school counseling is and the role of the school counseling in the school. And so because when we don't have that information, it creates levels of disrespect and so on that counselors face. And also you have situations where because persons don't understand, they do not regard the value of school counseling. Outside of that, you have, of course, issues where in dealing with sensitive situations with children, of course, you have to work with parents. And sometimes you do not have the cooperation of the parents because, again, a lot of the times, they're feared situations. People are more fearful when they know they have a problem, when they have an issue, and when another person is trying to intervene. I think there are levels where cooperation and collaboration could be even more effective with regards to other service providers that it creates frustration sometimes when we're trying to work with a student, when we're trying to get the student the help they need and it appears that the response is not being done as quickly as it should be for the well-being of the child. Great. And we know with the guidance counselors, whether school counselors actually doing their part in the school, are there any other agencies that the counselors would have to work with in order to help them solve certain problems? Definitely. One of the things I would like to help us understand is that school counseling functions within the framework of the education system. And when we spoke about the goals, the counselor has the responsibility to help that child successfully navigate through their life at school. And so their focus is not clinical counseling and therapy as you would have from a clinical counselor, but more to guide the students and to get them back to focus on the academic development and how they can get through successfully in school. That's really what it is that we want to do with the student. We know as they help the students, they also have to work with the other agencies. So we have human services, which of course, child protective services. We work with human services. We work with probation services. We work with family court. We work with medical doctors because there are times you have to refer to a medical doctor. We work with the wellness center. Any service that can be provided to assist and to get the child to a better place or to get them the kind of service that they would need so that they can function more proficiently, we work with those agencies. Great. And can you give us an idea as to some of the programs initiated as to grow guidance counseling or you can say school counseling? Okay, when it comes to the primary schools there are a number of programs that we have we have introduced and implemented in schools to assist with the counseling program. So for example, you have a pre-referral intervention program which is used at the schools, primary schools especially, where issues that may come up, the teachers, the principal, they have a guideline that they can look to to assist them in how to problem solve some of these issues before they would make a recommendation to the, a referral to the counselor because one of the challenges we have is that whenever a child is going through an issue, one of the first things people think is send them to the counselor. It really ought not to be that. It has to be that when everything else has been used to assist this child then it may need the intervention of the counselor. We have a second step program which is introduced to its violence reduction in schools and so on and to teach children basically character building skills. We also have a YTRI program that is used in some of the secondary schools so that students learn decision-making, they learn tearing off labels and that type of thing, dealing with bullying and all of those different experiences that they have affecting them in the schools. Wonderful and we can definitely see that guidance counseling is definitely an integral part of the education sector. I want to thank you so much, Ms. Joyce Lynn Eugene for being part of our program and we want to wish you and your team all the best for the, for guidance counseling at the schools. Thank you. Thank you. Well, that's how we come to the end of Let's Talk for today. On behalf of the entire production team, I am Fiddle Neptune. Thank you for watching. Until next time. Let's talk.