The role of the school counselling service in Slovenian elementary schools

Dr. Sonja Pečjak

Summary:  The main goal of this article is to present the role of the school counselling service in Slovenian elementary schools. It is based on the Programme Guidelines, which were presented in 1999, and on the theoretical and empirical basis of the relevant literature. More specifically, the article deals with the staffing problems of school counselling service, its tasks, responsibilities and the last but not the least important, its autonomy within schools. Conclusions are founded on the empirical data gained through a questionnaire, which had been applied to a representative sample of Slovenian elementary schools. The results show an equable dispersion of trained specialists within school counselling service in Slovenian elementary schools but a low interaction between school size and a number of school counsellors. According to the obtained data, administrative work, working with parents and working with external experts dominate among the working tasks. Furthermore, regarding the responsibility degree the school counselling services are substantially engaged in working with children with special needs and solving the discipline problems. However, the results also pinpoint deficiencies in the field of additional education support and a positive shift in the treatment of talented children. The article, besides its empirical value, represents the basis for additional research of complicated relations within schools, where school counselling service plays a key role.