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Workshop aims to improve welfare, guidance and counselling in school system

Dec 07, 2010 News

Designed to improve the services offered by the Welfare and Guidance and Counselling Officers in the public education system, the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation yesterday commenced a four-day workshop at the Regency Hotel, Hadfield Street, Georgetown.
A total of 44 professionals from across the 10 administrative regions are being targeted through the workshop which has as its theme ‘Enhancing skills, improving lives through education’.
According to Chief Schools Welfare Officer, Carol Melville, the aim of the workshop is to ensure that the officers acquire the relevant skills to deal with the various situations that come to them on a daily basis.
The workshop was officially opened by Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh, and was followed by an interactive session facilitated by Communication Specialist, Ms Joyce Sinclair, who sought to enlighten the participants about the various forms and the importance of effective communication.
Sinclair’s session was titled Professional Ethnics in the work environment and has been recognised as a major need in the school environment, said Melville.
“Officers need to understand that being a professional there are certain things that they must adhere to. For example the way they dress, the way they speak to persons coming to their offices and even when they are doing field work.”
The workshop is also intended to expose the participants to modern counselling techniques through the teachings of Ms Lynette Roberts, President of the Professional Social Workers Association.
Case work intervention and conflict resolution sessions will also be delivered by Ms Barbara Thomas and Mr Andrew Hicks, both of the University of Guyana.
Legal issues in relation to the delivery of the schools welfare programme will also be highlighted during the workshop, which is in fact the first such training session to incorporate the involvement of both Guidance Counsellors and Welfare Officers, according to Melville.
Melville noted that officers will be knowledgeable of the appropriate approach in addressing cases that will arise. She said that while the Ministry is not always capable of dealing with all forthcoming cases, efforts are made to refer them to the relevant authority, be it the Police Force or the Human Services Ministry.
“We do not deal with all of the cases so we refer them at times. For example cases where children have never been registered we refer them to the Legal Aid, cases like child abuse and parents’ financial difficulties will go to the Child Protection Agency,” she noted.
In the instance of assault cases which occur in schools, Melville revealed that officers and teachers alike are fully aware that such cases must be referred to the police force without delay, even as she noted that every effort is made to follow up such cases.
And there will be no little deliberation at the workshop on how to address abuse of students at home, said Melville. “Whenever it comes to our attention that students are being abused at home we do our own little inquiry and once we find the need for referral we will do so but we will also follow up as well,” she asserted.
The Education Ministry, Melville noted, works in close collaboration with the Human Services Ministry in particular, each ensuring that the necessary referrals are made.
The final day of the workshop will be characterised by a field experience which will entail participants doing home visits and be a part of a truancy campaign in the quest to guide them on improving their current operation, Melville added.

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