Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Submission to the Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection
on the
Role and Potential
of Community Education and Vocational Education
Wednesday 26th February 2014
I
The Role and Potential of Vocational Education
The present structural transformation of Ireland’s further education and training sector is informed by
policy direction from the European Commission over the past decade. Communiqués from the
Commission have now promoted and mainstreamed VET as the primary focus for the re-generation of
European economies.
Structural reform of the Irish VET or FET system has been led by the implementation of recent
legislation:

The Education and Training Boards Act 2013 abolished VECs and statutorily established 16
Education and Training Boards (ETBs);

The Further Education and Training Act 2013 abolished FÁS, established SOLAS as the Further
Education and Ttraining authority and provided for the transfer of the former FÁS Training
Division (16 Training Centres) to the ETBs.
These Acts, inter alia, provide for the strategic and planned provision of FET priorities. Service Level
Agreements will define the relationship between SOLAS and each of the 16 ETBs.
Education and Training Boards Ireland
Piper’s Hill
Kilcullen Road
Naas, Co Kildare
Telephone: +353 (0)45 901 070
Fax:
+353 (0)45 901 711
Web:
www.etbi.ie
General Secretary: Michael Moriarty
The establishment of SOLAS, with responsibility for strategic oversight, planning and funding functions,
together with the devolvement of responsibility for all state-funded training to the ETBs, brings much
needed coherence and direction to the FET sector. Moreover, the establishment of SOLAS ensures that
the FET sector and vocational education and training will operate on a par with other educational
sectors.
Recent reviews of both FET and Apprenticeship Training point to the need for more structured
engagement between FET providers and employers in curriculum and programme delivery. The need for
significant (at least 50%) on-site training to match theoretical learning is now an urgent necessity.
Employer engagement (perhaps through an ETB sub-committee structure) could ensure that FET
programmes are optimally aligned with the needs of industry.
Closer collaboration at local level between the ETBs and Intreo offices is essential if the needs of
jobseekers and the long-term unemployed are to be addressed through effective referrals to suitable
education and training programmes, necessary for re-skilling and up-skilling. The lack of trained Adult
Guidance counsellors is a serious flaw in the plan.
Flexibility in provision where courses are more client-driven is a challenge facing education and training
stakeholders. Schools and colleges have achieved an impressive range of FET courses over decades, but
the needs of 21st-century Ireland point to the need for full year round provision as well as distance
learning and other forms of flexible delivery, across all education and training provision.
ETBI has developed much international experience while engaging with other VET partners throughout
the EU. ETBI is currently promoting two international projects dealing with entrepreneurship in
curriculum and leadership in VET.
The objective of a world class further education and training system is achievable. It will require efficient
and effective national collaboration between agencies such as SOLAS and DSP, and local collaboration
between ETBs and Intreo offices, both of which need to be adequately resourced.
Data collection to inform targeted programme delivery and robust evaluation of resources must be the
cornerstone of the new FET system in Ireland. The 5 year strategic plan currently in preparation by
SOLAS will set out strategies which will show how Ireland is to achieve the reformation of FET while
providing a road map leading to a world class system before 2020.
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II
The Role and Potential of Community Education
The Vocational Education Committee sector led the development of Adult and Community Education in Ireland in
the 1970s. Today Education and Training Boards Ireland and our member Education and Training Boards are
equally committed to providing flexible and accessible Community Education for all.
Education is a fundamental human right, and Ireland has agreed to promote and develop the right of every
person to enjoy access to education of good quality, without discrimination or exclusion. Learning should be for
everyone, whatever their age, need, status, or educational background.
Education is an important tool in improving the quality of life and key to economic development. A healthy
democracy relies on its people to be informed, interested and above all, engaged. The Community Education
sector has the potential to bring us together as a community and make us socially cohesive.
The Department of Education White Paper on Adult Education: Learning for Life (2000) identified key
characteristics of Community Education, including rootedness in the community, respect for participants and their
lived experience, concern for communal values, and promotion of flexible, personalised learning. The Paper noted
that Community Education goals include not just individual development but also collective community
advancement, especially in marginalised community.
Community Education best practice is holistic, welcoming, supportive and empowering of all participants. It is
based on the principle of partnership, where learning takes place on a level playing field and learners and tutors
are equal contributors, each learning from the other. At its most fundamental, Community education
acknowledges that the journey is just as important as reaching the destination.
For many adults, unemployed, or side-lined by a non-supportive working environment, participating in a
Community Education course may help restore confidence and provide a focus for moving forward. Community
Education has the potential to transform lives, by enabling participants to develop and understand their role
within the social system, and thus to grow in confidence, self-knowledge and self-determination.
It is essential to realise the extent to which Community Education can lead to greater social and political
participation. Being rooted in the community, Community Education has the capacity to change and enhance the
lives of all involved, learners and tutors, co-ordinators and managers, as well as the wider community. It is a
fundamental pillar for social and political cohesion, encouraging local involvement and the empowerment of Irish
people across the country, and ETBI, and our member ETBs, hope to continue to provide support structures and
facilities for its future development.
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In conclusion, I wish to thank the members of the Committee for your invitation to discuss the role and potential
of Community Education and Vocational Education, in both of which sectors ETBI and our member ETBs are
centrally involved. I am happy to respond to any questions you may have.
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