Friday, 05.09.2008
Launch of adult education awards

AONTAS, the National Adult Learning Organisation, has just launched the STAR awards initiative for the third year running. The awards aim to showcase teamwork and award recognition to the thousands of adult learners around Ireland each year and the organisations which support them.

'Going back to education can bring about huge change in someone's life', said AONTAS Director Berni Brady. 'In addition to learning another skill, people also get the opportunity to meet new people, to learn about other cultures and to get more involved in their own community. Our investment in education and our reputation as a country of skilled workers is also very important for our future economic development,' she added.

There are fourteen different categories of award and significantly this year AONTAS has made the decision to introduce a new category for workplace learning initiatives. 'We also wanted to highlight examples of best practice in different workplaces around the country,' explained Ms Brady. 'We can see a real change in the culture of businesses and companies around Ireland who are beginning to see the value of offering training, education and upskilling opportunities to their employees. The benefits can range from more efficiency in the workplace, to increased self confidence and motivation levels amongst employees. In addition now we are seeing the importance of flexibility - employees who participate in training and education will develop a whole range of transferable skills enabling them to change position within a company or change job. This is a progressive and proactive way of addressing our current economic concerns.'

Ireland's record is still poor when it comes to adults participating in training and education. A recent report published by the HEA indicates that in 2004 only 7% of Irish adults took up some form of learning. This compares very poorly with Scandinavian countries where that figure was almost as high as 25%, and falls below the European average of 10%. 'We believe that initiatives like the STAR awards promote the idea of adult learning' said Ms Brady. 'The awards ceremony is part of the Adult Learners' Festival which runs for a week each year. The festival includes a number of events around the country to give people the opportunity to find out more about what's involved with going back to education.'

The deadline for nominations is not until November 14th this year. Last year saw an increase in the number of nominations received - up from forty in the first year, to one hundred and thirty in the second year. An independent panel of judges with expertise in training and education from a number of different sectors will make the tough decisions and announce the winning projects in January 2009.

Nomination forms for the awards are available on the AONTAS website (http://www.aontas.com/), or by contacting AONTAS on 01 406 8220.