Flocking back to education

Date Published: 06-Aug-2009

THE numbers were already on the increase even before the economic downturn, but the recession has seen a spiralling increase in the numbers of people who are changing career and direction in mid-stream.

Nationally, there were 7,886 people on Back to Education Allowance in 2008, and that is reflected locally in the fact that mature students going into further education is more popular than ever.

Grainne O’Byrne, a Back to Education Initiative (BTEI) development worker at the Galway VEC, outlined the reasons for this upsurge in numbers flocking to adult education.

“I’m seeing an increased demand, particularly among young men with trades who are coming off the construction sites, or women who left school maybe when they were 14 years of age, went into employment and who had recently been made redundant,” she said.

In her first year with the VEC in 2007, just 180 adult learners enrolled in courses here, but by the following year this had grown to 408. Many progress on to FETAC level courses at Galway Community College and the Galway Technical Institute and to third level courses at the NUIG and GMIT.

She was particularly enthused about a new course being developed by the VEC and NUIG.

“We are going to have…