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4.4.2. The National Guidance Forum

The National Guidance Forum, a joint initiative of the Minister for Education and Science and
of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, was launched at an international
guidance conference during the Irish Presidency of the European Union in April 2004. The
OECD review had previously examined how guidance services can help advance important
public-policy objectives, with a particular focus on the contribution that guidance makes to
lifelong learning, economic development, labour market efficiency and social cohesion. For
the purposes of the OECD review, career guidance was defined as ‘services intended to
assist individuals, of any age and at any point throughout their lives, to make educational,
training and occupational choices and to manage their careers’ (OECD, 2004, p. 19).
However, it is important to note that in some countries, including at post-primary level in
Ireland, career guidance and personal counselling form an integrated service.
Ireland’s national development plan (2000-06) set out four key areas for social and
economic development. Within the area related to education and training development, there
was reference to improving guidance in second-level, further and adult education. In 2001, a
national seminar held during the OECD review visit showed the value of bringing the key
players in guidance together to address issues of common concern. One of the
recommendations of the review team was to create an Irish guidance forum, to strengthen
joint and cooperative work between the major guidance providers.
In August 2003, the Department of Education and Science (DES) requested that the
National Centre for Guidance in Education (NCGE) should coordinate the establishment of a
national guidance forum. NCGE established a steering group, and it was considered
essential that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) be fully
involved, along with representatives of DES, FÁS and the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development joined the steering group after the
forum was established.
The agreed objectives of the forum were to:
(a) ensure that guidance becomes central to the public policy and planning process in
education, the labour market and social strategies;
(b) develop, communicate and implement meaningful models of guidance that underpin a
vision of personal fulfilment, a fair society and sustainable employability;
(c) urgently harness and proactively manage the wealth of existing guidance resources and
agree mechanisms for measuring relevant and realistic outcomes;
(d) move from fragmented guidance provision to a cohesive multi-faceted professional,
accessible service, responsive to the needs of the individual and society.

4.4.3. Outcomes

Outcomes from the National Guidance Forum were extensive:
(a) a national lifelong guidance framework, outlining the knowledge, skills and competences
that guidance aims to develop among individuals at different times of their lives;
(b) a report on a scoping exercise on guidance services available in education, the labour
market, and, to a more limited extent, the community;
(c) a competence framework for guidance practitioners;

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