A bright, exciting new era for Education and Training
BRISK and exciting winds of change have totally refreshed the education and training sector in Ireland in recent years.
Sixteen new Education and Training Boards (ETBs) were announced in 2013 by then Minister for Education Ruairà Quinn to replace the existing 33 Vocational Education Committees (VECs). The reforms have delivered savings of more than €2 million annually.
More importantly, the changes have ushered in a bright new era for education and training in Ireland.
The new ETBs have strengthened locally managed education and enhanced the scale of local education and training.
Appropriate programmes and courses that offer the best opportunities to progress are available.
Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education Training Board (MSLETB) has replaced VECs in Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim.
Its Chief Executive is Shaun Purcell, a doyen of vocational education over the decades.
He started off his career as a teacher, rising through the ranks to the position of school principal, education officer with Dublin VEC before becoming chief executive of Sligo VEC.
Now, as head of MSLETB, his brief covers a huge geographical area from Carrigallen, Co. Leitrim, to Achill Island, Co. Mayo, encompassing about 30,000 learners and approximately 1,700 staff.
The new Further Education and Training Centre (an impressive, modern structure) is located at the junction of Rush Street and Lucan Street in Castlebar.
Shaun Purcell said the transition from the VEC structure to ETBs has been ‘hectic but exciting and hugely interesting'.
His answer to the question of whether the reforms and amalgamations (of VECs) have been beneficial was an unequivocal “Yesâ€.
He elaborated: “Yes, it has been a really good thing because of what it has brought to us is generic strategies and generic values, generic policies that underpin what we do.
“So, in other words, if you go to Achill and do a course there you'll get the same quality courses as Carrigallen (Leitrim) or Grange (Sligo).
“What we don't want to lose is that local remit that the ‘techs' and the VECs had with the community.
“That's very important because some of our work is around accredited work in courses that lead onto progression and to other things or indeed into jobs.â€
Mr. Purcell emphasises that his main objective is to keep skilled people of all ages in the region.
He explained: “My mantra is keeping people in the west and north west even though I'm not from the area. (His roots are in Louth).
“Of course young people will head off for education, travel, but we want to get them back.
“Our business is about upskilling, reskilling and encouraging entrepreneurship to be in the schools or in our relationship with the Institutes of Technology (ITs).
“If we want to keep the region vibrant we need to support people to both live and work here and if we want to do that we have to be working together.â€
Mr. Purcell stressed it is no longer the primary objective in Ireland to get 100 per cent of second-level pupils into third-level. “Employers don't want to take on people who have graduated with four years of academic experience and no practical know-how,†he insisted.
At the moment, according to the MSLETB, there is a lack of skilled tradespeople in the regions.
This is as a result of the recent economic crash when the demand for such workers trickled to a standstill.
At the moment, the MSLETB is co-ordinating a national programme in relation to apprenticeships in such areas as butchering, sales and childcare.
Shaun Purcell said a challenge for the ETBs lies in engaging and connecting with businesses and schools.
“We need to be leading the community. There's no point in saying I want to be a hairdresser and you have 400 hairdressers from here to Cavan and nobody can get a job. We need to be thinking about what sort of skills businesses are looking for. In our schools we have an industry database. We are now heading for up to 2,000 engagements with businesses.â€
Compared to the old days - thirty or forty years ago - there are big changes.
He explained: “Nowadays there's no such thing as a job for life. You upskill, you reskill and, as things change, you have to move with them.'