Your education questions answered.

My son is just about to begin a work experience week as part of his Transition Year. Some parents tell me it is a waste of time as students rarely get the supervision they need. What do you think?

In my experience, students gain from work experience as it gives them an insight to the reality of the world of work. Some would argue that most students over the age of 16 have part-time jobs, so why do work experience?

There is a major difference between packing shelves in your local supermarket and undertaking a week's work experience with, for example, the Air Corps.

The benefit a student acquires from work experience is directly proportionate to the amount of preparation that goes into securing the placement.

By the beginning of Transition Year, most students will have begun to explore the possible career options open to them. Many will have romantic notions of careers that they have acquired from television programmes and other media sources. I have found work experience to be, both enormously helpful as a clarification exercise and a motivator for students.

For some fostered on a diet of ER, a week's exposure to the reality of hospital life will forever dispel notions that they wish to pursue a career in medicine. For others it will sharpen the motivation to acquire one of those coveted places in medicine, resulting in a very self-motivated student in fifth and sixth year.

At a more basic level, work experience teaches students some basic skills not necessarily learnt in school. These include, time- keeping, teamwork, the discipline associated with satisfying customer needs, i.e. appearance, dress, presentation skills and so on.

I have listened in amusement to parents as they recount how little Johnny, who has to be dragged from bed each school morning, moaning about having to wear a uniform, was transformed during work experience to an early-rising, showering, hair-combing stranger.

My son has informed me that he is taking an extra subject called the LCVP for his Leaving Certificate. What is the LCVP? Are seven subjects not enough? Should I speak to the school about withdrawing him from this course?

The LCVP is a programme introduced in 1994 to prepare students for entry into the world of work, by ensuring that they are educated in the broadest sense, with an ability to cope and thrive in an environment of rapid change. Your son will be encouraged to develop skills and competencies fundamental to both academic and vocational success. The programme places particular emphasis on ICT skills and students are given opportunities to use audio/visual equipment and computer presentation packages for recording and presentation purposes.

Your son will be studying two link modules, preparation for the world of work and enterprise education, which will be treated as one unit for examination purposes. Assessment is made up of a portfolio of coursework, prepared over two years, worth 60 per cent of total marks, and an exam worth the remaining 40 per cent.

His portfolio of coursework will include six items, a CV, a 300 to 600-word report on a career investigation, a summary report on an activity undertaken within the programme, an enterprise plan, plus two other items from an optional list. Students are awarded a distinction, merit or pass, which are recognised by universities and ITs for points purposes.

I would have no fears about your son's participation in this programme. It is timetabled in most schools for no more than two periods per week, with portfolio work mainly completed in fifth year. As colleges accept the six best grades a student achieves for entry purposes, many students find that their grade for LCVP is among their best six.

Brian Mooney is president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors. E-mail him questions to bmooney@irish-times.ie