Jonah Francis - Elgin Taylor

In recent times, the job of the guidance counsellor has become one of the most challenging in the teaching profession.

This is so because of the poor behaviour of many of the students within the school system. Jonah Francis, the guidance counsellor at Spring Gardens All-Age School in St Catherine, is one of those who is well aware of this fact. He shared his experience with The Star in a recent interview.

"The job is very challenging and I can say that the problems we had some years ago are no more," he asserted.

He said, when he took up the position on February 1, 2006, the students' behaviour was untenable, but that the situation has vastly improved since. The method used was to fashion an intervention programme for the whole school, with special emphasis on the lower grades. Over time, the measures taken had borne fruits and now indiscipline is not a major scourge at the institution.

To give credence to this claim, Francis pointed out that, over the past seven years, only four students have been referred to the Child Development Agency for behavioural problems. This action, he noted, is taken whenever all interventions at the school level have been exhausted.

Francis informed that the guidance counsellor's job is basically people-oriented and entails the affective and cognitive domains, but mainly the former.

"We do everything, we share in academic successes and we try to get them to focus whenever there are challenges," he stated.

These challenges include rebellious students, parental neglect and absenteeism. He noted that home visits are made and the parents are usually cooperative. The counselling of parents and students is also conducted.

Francis also revealed that he taught classes and that such teaching is centred around topical issues like sexuality, drugs, self-esteem, examinations and the environment.

In terms of the resources to do the job, he pointed to the challenges of accessing the necessary funding to provide lunches for the students and materials for teaching.

Training

Francis, who initially wanted to become an electrical engineer, was trained at Mico Teachers' College, the University of the West Indies, and Northern Caribbean University. He has a certificate in teaching (Mico College), a certificate in education (University of the West Indies), a bachelor's degree in guidance and counselling, and a master of science degree in counselling psychology (Northern Caribbean University).

He previously taught general subjects at Brown's Hall Primary School (1976-1992) and mathematics, social studies and religious education at Tacius Golding High School (1999-2006). He also served the teaching fraternity in another capacity when he worked as a sales representative for JTA Housing, during the period 1992-1998.

The veteran educator made the switch to guidance and counselling, because he felt he could "offer more than an ordinary teacher."

He is of the belief that, because of the number of pervasive issues within the society, for example, drug and sexual abuse, all teachers should have some training in guidance and counselling.