The growing mountain of paperwork involved in running schools that have no proper management structures is putting student-focused reforms at risk, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has been warned.

The €370m further education and training sector could face a major change in focus as a review examines how well it is addressing the needs of the unemployed.

Sixteen new Education and Training Boards will be established today to replace the 33 VEC's across the country.

More than eight decades of education provision ends today when 33 city and county vocational education committees (VECs) are consigned to history.

Musician John Spillane says it is “sad” that cutbacks have severely hit Ireland’s only musical instrument-making course.

The saving of dozens of teachers’ jobs under threat from a budget cut will not be enough to save some important post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses, say VEC bosses.

County Cork VEC spent almost €50,000 responding to reports that it had lost more than €100,000 due to mismanagement at a Youthreach centre.

Future careers in dance and music could be under threat from budget cuts of hundreds of teaching posts on further education courses.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has said he has no power to act on County Cork VEC’s request to remove a whistleblowing councillor from its board.

Almost 7% of likely student grant recipients have yet to finalise their claims, as a review into the failings of the new application system nears completion.

More than 6,000 students are still waiting for decisions on their grant applications with just three months left in the college year, as they struggle with money issues amid assessments and end-of-year exams.

Almost 7,000 college students are still awaiting a decision on their grant applications, with about 4,000 of them expected to qualify for a payment and hundreds more waiting to have their college fees paid.

Parents in 39 towns and city suburbs will be asked their views from next week on a choice of up to five alternative patrons to their local, Catholic-run, primary schools.

Just 13,500 of the 35,000 first-year students due a college grant will have been paid by Christmas, despite government promises of a faster, more efficient system.

Students from disadvantaged communities will be left with the choice of emigration or the dole instead of increased job prospects because of a €12m budget cut, opposition parties have warned Education Minister Ruairi Quinn.

The private company, the systems of which are being partly blamed for student grant delays, is taking on a further 50 temporary staff to help try and meet a target to have 33,000 applications decided by Christmas.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Education Minister Ruairi Quinn have said Mr Gilmore’s wife was treated the same as other senior education figures when given a job at the Department of Education.

Fianna Fáil is demanding answers from the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore after the appointment of his wife to a job in the Department of Education.

Joan Collins of the United Left Alliance has called on the Government to bring in VEC staff with experience in processing students grants to clear the backlog in third-level grant applications.

The Ombudsman has welcomed a government move to bring 140 additional public bodies under the remit of her office.

Almost 9,500 college students are due to get their first grant payments within weeks through the new online application system.

Surveys to find out if parents want more non-Catholic primary schools and which patron they would prefer are to begin within weeks.

The 16 bodies that replace city and county vocational education committees (VECs) must be left with enough staff to continue effective education and training, the sector’s representative body has warned.

All schools could save on running costs with the help of the purchasing power of the education and training boards (ETBs) being set up next year.

The incoming bosses of the boards replacing vocational education committees (VEC) have been selected and have started to plan next year’s changeover.

Non-denominational school patron Educate Together will be involved in the running of secondary schools for the first time from next year.

The Department of Education has revealed it is to tackle waste and mismanagement in the VEC sector by unveiling a new system of scrutiny.

An online grant application system aimed at ending delays for thousands of college students has opened seven years after first being announced.

Information Commissioner Emily O’Reilly has called on the Government to speed up election promises made to voters to introduce major reforms and extensions to freedom of information legislation.

Further revelations of waste by Vocational Educational Committees have cemented concerns about the lack of accountability for the €1.16bn pumped into the sector each year.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has backed the new type of state-run primary school despite concerns about religious teaching.

CCVEC will no longer be able to avoid giving answers, writes investigative correspondent Conor Ryan

MORE courses offered by private companies and less funding for hobby courses could form part of the overhaul of further education and training in the replacement of Fás.

THE Department of Education has received applications from eight groups to be patrons of 13 new primary schools due to open in the next two years.

DOZENS of school building projects needed to help match demand with the recent baby boom could be delivered faster after being handed over to Vocational Education Committees (VECs).

ALL schools could have access to the buying power and other expertise of the education boards that will replace VECs from next year.

ALL Vocational Education Committees (VECs) are to be reminded that teachers and other staff involved in purchasing must declare any business interests after irregularities were discovered at a Cork college.

THE need to continue investing in community education has been highlighted in research findings that indicate such investment can help maintain a happy and healthier population during recessionary times.

NO areas of education will be spared from potential cuts in the 2012 Budget, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has warned.

THE opportunity to create a greater choice of schools for parents was lost during the boom, a Catholic education leader has claimed.

STUDENTS at risk of dropping out of school and low-skilled job seekers are losing out on vital supports because of unfilled vacancies, the body representing Vocational Education Committees (VECs) has claimed.

STAFFING limits have been imposed on Vocational Educational Committees (VEC) as they prepare to expand their role beyond their work in schools and further education colleges, adult education and Youthreach programmes.

DOZENS of support staff in Vocational Education Committees (VECs) may have to be moved to other areas of the public sector next year to help meet staffing reduction targets.

THE property market and the need for legal changes mean most of the estimated €3 million in annual savings from halving the number of Vocational Education Committees (VECs) might not be reaped for a number of years.