GUIDANCE COUNSELLING IN JAMAICA

Brewer (1942) lists four conditions which were thought to have led to the rise of guidance in the United States of America – the division of labour; the growth of technology, the extension of vocational education, and the spread of modern forms of democracy.

Similar conditions stimulated the introduction of guidance in Jamaica. As early as 1954 the Ministry of Education was engaged in discussions with the Ministry of Health about the social problems of youths and the main issue was teenage pregnancies. A programme was designed to elicit the cooperation of school principals and parents for health educators to go into schools and disseminate information under the general heading “Sex Education” with the hope that this type of education would lessen the incidence of teenage pregnancies and encourage young people to put a greater value on themselves. The involvement of the Ministry of Education was directed by its Home Economics Department and the involvement of the school was optional.

In 1962, Dr. Helen Powell introduced Guidance Service in Jamaica. She, along Mr. George Scott, set up workshops at Knox College in Clarendon, Priory High School in St. Andrew, and the University of the West Indies. These workshops aimed at training personnel for guidance services. Dr. Powell was succeeded by Mrs. Trixie Grant-Sommerville and the work force was augmented in 1964 by four Peace Corps workers from the United States of America.

In 1968, Miss Elizabeth was appointed by the Ministry of Education at Arnold Road to deal with guidance education and planning. Fourteen additional Peace Corps Volunteers joined the staff. Heading the group were Earl and Joan Ambre, who at first worked for a year in the rural areas developing guidance services in the schools of Hanover and Westmoreland. In the following years, they worked in Kingston and St. Andrew.

The areas of chief concentration were Career Development and Family Life Education.  In 1969, Guidance became a subject in Church Teachers College, Mandeville, Manchester. In 1974, provision was made for the employment of a counsellor on the staff of each secondary school in Jamaica Training sessions for the people who were being employed as Guidance Counsellors were organized by Miss Ramesar. Following a number of seminars, twenty of theses in-training, counsellors were given the opportunity to spend eight weeks at the University of Western Carolina in the United States of America for more training. This training started in June 1978 and earned them a certificate in Guidance Counselling. Another twenty Counsellors were given the opportunity in the Summer of the following two consecutive years. In 1978, the Guidance Programme became an identifiable feature in teacher-training colleges in Jamaica. This is in keeping with the Ministry of Education’s stated policy to collaborate withal teacher training institutions to have the programme instituted.

Now most teacher-training colleges boast of the services of fulltime counsellors as also some of the other tertiary institutions. These counsellors have been charged with the responsibility of drafting plans for the implementation of the programme, but are also supposed to get help from workshops, and seminars arranged by the Guidance and Counselling Section of the Ministry of Education.

1978 was marked as a significant year in the Guidance Counselling as for the first time, twenty counsellors were trained in Guidance Counselling at the University of the West Indies. Today, this training continues and in addition the Master Course on Guidance and Counselling is being offered.

Thanks to all those who made it possible for this form of training to be available in Jamaica.

Revised and adapted at our Annual General Meeting held December 2000 at Jamaica Grande.

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