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Further education and training (FET) in Ireland has long played a critical role in labour market activation and in upskilling and reskilling people. In Oct 2020, 295 860 people were receiving the pandemic unemployment payment; after the second national lockdown was introduced on 21 October, the number increased by 51 707 in just one week. To these should be added 211 492 reported on the live register at the end of September.
Skills to advance is a national Further Education and Training (FET) initiative that was established to meet the challenges of rapid technological advances and the changing work environment. It was developed in response to the evolving skills and training needs of employees and industry. It seeks to address specific skills needs of target groups by supporting the development of soft and digital skills and responding to the future of work while driving effective regional development.
Since the Coronavirus crisis unfolded the further education and training (FET) sector ([1]) (where most VET in Ireland occurs) has been identifying good practice, issues and solutions to ensure the continuation of teaching and learning and to support the public health service.
The Generation apprenticeship competition and campaign has been running since 2017. In December 2019, SOLAS hosted the first ever Generation apprenticeship employer of the year awards.
During the academic year 2018/19, the Institute of Guidance Counsellors (IGC) ran a continuous professional development (CPD) pilot session to increase counsellors’ awareness of the full range of options open to those completing upper secondary school as well as adult learners, with particular focus on work-based learning choices, such as apprenticeship and traineeship.
Ireland’s apprenticeship council and the Electricity Supply Board (ESB – Ireland’s State-owned electricity supply company) launched the ‘Taster Times’ event in March 2019.
Two new apprenticeship programmes aiming to address skills gaps and shortages in the biopharmaceutical sector and provide companies with an opportunity to access new talent and increase business growth were launched in late 2018, by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, Richard Bruton T.D. Potential learners will become laboratory assistants and technicians, will have the chance to earn while they learn and will acquire nationally recognised qualifications at EQF levels 5 and 6 (NFQ 6 and 7) upon successful completion.
Cedefop has released new insights on skills and jobs in seven European countries. After several years of development, the agency presents first results of this new type of labour market intelligence, based on information from more than 30 million online job vacancies collected in the second half of 2018 in Czechia, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy and the UK.
Léargas is the national agency for managing international and national exchange programmes for all education sub-systems, including the post-secondary non-tertiary sector, where most vocational education and training (VET) occurs in Ireland, but not higher education. The agency is owned by the Department of Education and Skills.
In an analysis of further education and training expenditure by Education Training Boards, the Irish Government Economic & Evaluation Service noted that, given the characteristics of the labour market and low basic skills among certain cohorts of unemployed people, it is necessary to equip individuals with the foundations to pursue more specific programmes and meet important education and social objectives. In this capacity, the Galway City Community Training Centre (CTC) (Galway CTC) aims to provide learners with basic skills to progress further in the labour market.