The report published by the Government experts skills group this week underlines the lack of support for students and others making important career choices. It underlines how both Leaving Cert and third-level students are not being given the information they need to make correct career choices.
There is, it says, a "huge lack of awareness" about career options. Most, it seems, are not even aware of the major Irish internet career sites. Almost 40 per cent had never heard of Career Directions, the main careers database run by Fás, the Government labour market agency, it finds.
The report's main recommendation is sensible and pragmatic. In the short term, it wants the existing career sites - like the excellent Qualifax service - to be promoted extensively. In the longer term, it wants one "user friendly" internet portal, a kind of one-stop-shop listing all the available information. The current situation is chaotic. Students and others are scarcely aware of most sites, let alone how to access them.
The report is timely as some 55,000 students await their Leaving Cert results next month. On past evidence, many of these will "sleepwalk" their way into various third-level courses, after giving little thought to course content or whether their chosen course meets their skills bases. Many are fortunate to choose college courses which match their skills but the alarmingly high drop-out level at third-level points to a significant minority which are not so lucky. The harsh reality is that up to one in four students in many colleges will either drop out or fail their exams in first year. In many cases, better career guidance at both second and third-level could have been of invaluable assistance.
The expert skills group acknowledges the good work of career teachers at second level but says guidance needs to start much earlier in schools, before students make key subject choices for their Leaving Cert exam. It is not the first report to make this sensible proposal but, as teachers themselves will tell you, the huge focus on the State exams means career issues are often not given anything like the priority they deserve - by pupils, parents and occasionally even by school management.
There is much that is good in this report which gives the neglected careers area the kind of concentrated focus it deserves. It is scathing in its comments about career guidance in some third-level colleges and about the technical jargon often used by State agencies in this area. The Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin - who has done much to support the extension of guidance services in schools - should act on its proposals without delay.