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Science and Culture that there shall be an emphasis on the education of the possibilities of According to a survey carried out in November 2014, only 69% of compulsory schools in
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further studies and work, with an introduction to the labour market. It is furthermore stipulated Iceland offered some sort of guidance and counselling . 32% of these schools however
that school principals shall lead the work of counsellors and other specialists, e.g. health employed someone as a counsellor who did not have the education specified by the
care professionals. Act; kindergarten teachers, developmental therapists, specialised teachers, occupational
therapists, social workers, social scientists, principals, teachers and former administrators.
Municipalities are responsible for the operation of compulsory education. However, the The reasons for this situation are several: there are not always enough counsellors available
Minister of Education, Science and Culture issues a National Curriculum Guide which is everywhere in Iceland, the schools do not have enough funds to employ fulltime counsellors
revised at regular intervals. It includes aspects such as: and some principals have chosen to use other staff on their payroll instead of hiring new
l pupils’ self-awareness, moral conscience, social awareness and awareness people.
of civil responsibility and duties;
l physical and mental well-being, Another interesting phenomenon in this survey is that 56% of the compulsory schools that
l healthy lifestyle and a responsible attitude to living beings and the environment; replied say that they do not offer any form of tuition on possible jobs and studies in the
l training in the use of Icelandic in all studies; future. Only 20% of the schools offered such tuition as a subject on their timetable and 23%
l dramatic and artistic expression; left it up to their teachers or counsellors how and when they taught something of this nature.
l pupils’ ability to understand causal relationships and draw logical conclusions; No general curriculum in this field is available for all compulsory schools.
l comprehension and productive and creative work, innovation and entrepreneurial studies;
l a good balance between academic and practical studies;
l the use of play as a means of learning and development for children;
l education that is useful to pupils in their daily lives as well as in future studies
and employment;
l the preparation of both sexes equally for active participation in society, family
life and work;
l a variety of ways to acquire knowledge through the use of technological media,
information and communication technology, and library and source work;
l school counselling and the presentation of different occupations and study programmes
as an aid in the choice of future studies and employment.

In all their work, schools are to promote a healthy lifestyle and take into account the
personality, degree of maturity, abilities, skills and interests of each individual.
2 Results from a survey carried out by a group of student at counselling at the University of Iceland.
A questionnaire was sent to all 176 compulsory schools in the country and 65% of them answered it.
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