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Former Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly says teachers who previously had access to free counselling services are now being required to pay $450 per counselling session.
Gadsby-Dolly made the claim while criticising what she described as the removal of several layers of support within the education system.
She said school safety officers, guidance counsellors, diagnostic specialists, special education officers and other support personnel play critical roles in assisting students, parents and teachers.
The former minister claimed hundreds of Student Support Services workers were at home without renewed contracts.
She then turned to counselling available to teachers, claiming free counselling had been removed.
According to Gadsby-Dolly, teachers now have to pay $450 for a session.
She argued that removing counselling and other support services while the country continues to grapple with behavioural problems in schools places additional pressure on the education system.
The $450 figure and the claimed removal of free counselling were assertions made by Gadsby-Dolly and were not independently established within the press conference.
