Monday, 22.09.2008
U-turn on funding commitment to further education sector

THE increased funding to widen services for more than 30,000 further education sector students has been put on hold because of the economic downturn. A draft agreement between the Department of Education, teacher unions and the Vocational Education Committees, which operate further education colleges, would have given about €4 million - or 25% - extra each year for day-to-day running of the sector.

The deal, revealed by the Irish Examiner in July, would have allowed colleges provide extra library services, science labs, equipment, support staff, teachers and career guidance. Revised management positions would also have been created for the further education colleges, which are funded and staffed in the same way as second-level schools.

But it emerged at the annual congress of the Irish Vocational Education Association, which represented VECs in the negotiations, that the funding is being put on hold.

The association's president Cllr Mary Bohan said they had been informed without notice by the department that implementation of the draft agreement depended on "present and prospective economic and budgetary contexts and related financial constraints".

"This unexpected development flies in the face of the Government's commitment to implementing the National Skills Strategy, which we have been assured is a non-negotiable prerequisite to ensuring future national prosperity," she said.

"The opportunity that was within our grasp to secure the future of Irish further education, and which was critical to upskilling our workforce, must not be lost for years to come," said Ms Bohan, a party colleague of Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe.

The agreement reached in July was a landmark development for the sector, and followed almost two years of negotiations to begin implementing a 2003 report to the Department of Education, which recommended an overhaul of further education structures and funding. Mr O'Keeffe hinted, further to the IVEA congress in Galway, that any funding increases would not be available until the economic downturn is reversed.

"In the immediate future, we are not going to be able to expand provision in this area. The challenge is to deliver optimum outcomes for learners with the resources available to us," he said.

The post leaving-certificate qualifications awarded from further education courses are an increasing avenue to third level, with almost one-in-10 places filled by the Central Applications Office last year going to those with such qualifications.

Education law expert Oliver Mahon BL told the congress it is necessary to amend the 1998 Education Act to allow further education colleges be recognised under their own category, as their categorisation as second-level schools limits more than just their funding.

"Their codes of conduct need to be along the lines of a regular school which is not really appropriate for institutions catering mainly for adults. Likewise, their admissions policies are inappropriately based on those devised for mainstream schools," he said.