The landscape for further education and training in Ireland is being transformed both by Government decisions and by how education is delivered in a digital age.

The recent establishment of a new further education and training authority (Solas) has brought some strategic planning to the delivery of further education and training (FET) that was totally absent over the era when 33 VECs and Fás often competed for clients, offering very similar programmes. Other than by local arrangements, there was in the past little central planning of FET at national level, and both bodies were independently responsible for delivering courses to their own clients.

This lack of a strategic vision has been replaced by the new national strategy for FET 2014-2019, drawn up by Solas and published by the Department of Education and Skills this summer, which aims to provide all FET learners with a service which meets the needs both of individual learners and of Government economic policy.

The strategy sets out to ensure the provision of 21st-century high-quality FET programmes, which will be responsive to the needs of learners and the requirements of a changing economy.

It aims to deliver a high-quality learning experience leading to better outcomes for all those engaged in further education, to support economic development, increase social inclusion, and meet the needs of all learners, communities and employers. The establishment in the past year of 16 new education and training boards (ETBs), to replace both the VECs and Fás, is the vehicle through which this new strategy is to be delivered.

Cuts in PLC sector

But delivering this new strategy will not be easy. Further education and training in Ireland currently has a budget of €826 million, €640 million of which is funded through Solas. Figures released by the Department of Education in June showed that cuts in the PLC sector in the 2013-2014 academic year took 185 full-time teachers out of the system, resulting from an increase in the pupil-teacher ratio in FE colleges from 17:1 to 19:1. The number of students on PLC programmes in VEC schools fell from 35,524 to 34,003 and the number of VEC colleges offering PLC programmes decreased from 139 to 131.

Therefore, apart from the issue of finding funds for this new national strategy for further education, there are a number of structural issues which will have to be addressed before this new strategy is a reality. As the FET strategy document states, there is a substantial variation in the regional distribution of FET places in Ireland. Further education colleges, formerly managed by local VECs and Fás training centres, owe their existence not to any plan, but to the vagaries of history. Added to this lack of strategically located centres for education/training, each VEC and PLC college has acted independently in planning courses, based primarily on the qualifications of existing staff rather than the education/training/skills needs or demands of their potential students.

Fás training centres, which ran training and apprenticeship programmes throughout the country, in the past often ended up in direct competition with local VEC colleges, both in attracting students and in the courses they both offered. Under that system, it was common for a young person to sign up to a PLC course by the September 30th cut-off date for determining State funding for that college, only to drift away over the following months and sign up for a local Fás course. There was and is no data infrastructure monitoring this and almost no appraisal of the outcomes for individual learners or the colleges/training centres themselves.

Now that both VEC and Fás are under the management of the new education and training boards, it will be interesting to see this rationalisation of services , bearing in mind the limitations on changing public service terms and conditions. The reforms in the HSE and Irish Water come to mind.

There are other impediments to the new FET strategy. First, many existing PLC teachers may not possess the skills required today, as technologies have moved on since the teachers were trained. Business, the media, communications, have been utterly transformed technologically and many teachers will struggle. These skills’ deficiencies point to a complete lack of commitment by Government to the ongoing professional development of teachers; a few days of in-service training won’t touch this skills’ deficit.

Secondly, many of the skills required by employers are in science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM), so major capital investment is needed in labs in strategic locations, matching skills and local employment needs. The strategy document refers to meeting the needs of local industry, but Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan needs to secure funding at Cabinet so the new ETBs can build the infrastructure.

Thirdly, PLC teachers are in what were originally second-level vocational schools, and so have a traditional school year of September to May, an issue brought up by former minister Ruairí Quinn at the TUI conference at Easter. Meeting the needs of a modern economy, with the physical infrastructure investment and training needed, can’t be based on institutions which are empty for almost half the year.

Trainers in Fás training centres, who work a 12-month year with holiday breaks, although skilled in the trades they teach, often don’t hold qualifications for teaching courses at levels 5 or 6 on the national qualifications framework. Both of these issues raise huge human resources issues before the 2014-2019 strategy can be implemented. Apart from Mr Quinn’s statement to TUI delegates, the strategy doesn’t specify how these delicate issues will be addressed.

Structural issues

If all of these structural issues can be successfully overcome, who are the potential clients of this new integrated FET service?

A large proportion of FE students have just got their Leaving Cert, and either want to learn a skill over or year or two to get a job, or a third-level college place through PLC progression via the CAO.

Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) data last year indicated 18 per cent of Fetac award-holders who took such FE programmes in PLC colleges went on to higher education and 21 per cent took another FE qualification. The Higher Education Authority has proposed that students progressing from FE should make up 6.6 per cent of all higher-education students this year, and 10 per cent in 2016.

Another cohort of potential students/trainees would previously have done apprenticeships through Fás. These training/apprenticeship programmes are now under the remit of the 16 ETBs. Within the new national FET strategy, an expansion of such apprenticeships is planned to cater for the the needs of high-technology employers.

In July, the Government established an Apprenticeship Council, which will be enterprise-led, with representatives from business, trade unions, and further and higher education bodies, and will be hosted by Solas. The Apprenticeship Council will call for industry proposals for new apprenticeships.

For it to succeed, big multinational employers need to cooperate with Government in developing this; this structure is vital for workplace skills in Germany and northern Europe but is not part of the Anglo-American business model in major manufacturing companies here.

Apart from teenagers leaving second-level education, and unemployed people seeking skills for the labour market, other potential FE learners are working but need continuing education and training to retain or progress in jobs, or to start or sustain their own business.

Here, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and other online education and training will complement or be an alternative education provider. Alison, the Galway-based MOOC, for example, is a leader in online workplace education internationally, and won an award at the World Innovation Summit for Education from the Qatar Foundation in Doha in 2013.

Finally, there are still far too many adults who went through our education system in the past without learning basic literacy and numeracy skills. Central to the new strategy, and outlined in the Education and Training Act 2013, is a commitment to enabling every citizen, notably the most disadvantaged, to fully participate in society, including having a job.

Delivering on such a commitment will involve embedding a literacy and numeracy strategy across all FET programmes.

The strategy

The main aim of the new further education and training strategy is to assist learners acquire the following:

The necessary skills required of an innovative and flexible labour force, as a key resource for sustained economic growth.

Skills in IT, engineering, and financial services, research and development (R&D) and consultancy, as a driver of employment growth, entrepreneurship and start-up companies.

Skills, along with technological advances, leading to productivity increases.

Skills required to move the economy from a capital to a knowledge based one, based on technological advances.

Skills as a driver of social inclusion and social mobility, through increased confidence and self-esteem, alongside improved employability and productivity.

Continuous skills development and life long learning ensuring employability, skills transferability, and protection from unemployment.

The success of this strategy is dependent on the Department of Social Protection ensuring jobseekers are referred to the most suitable and relevant education and training programmes.

The strategy document points to the current Adult Education Guidance (AEGI) integrated guidance counselling service, to ensure appropriate referral.

Solas has both a short-term annual service plan and a five-year strategy statement, setting out details of the type, mix and volume of programmes and services, to be delivered by the 16 ETBs in the coming year, and over the next five years, rolled into one national FET service plan.