Pádraig Hoare The dearth of apprenticeships in traditional trades like plastering and tiling is “frightening”, the president of Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) has warned.

A Solas employee who says he was asked, in a job promotion interview, “Do you think, at this stage, that you should be taking it easier”, has been awarded €20,000 for discrimination.

Worthy further education reforms may be unrealistic without extra funding, writes Education Correspondent Niall Murray.

Funding for post-Leaving Certificate courses will depend on their ability to match the staffing needs of local employers, under proposed new regulation of the sector.

An education authority decided it was more prudent to write off more than €100,000 it overpaid in error to apprentices than continue chasing repayments.

A shortage of builders and construction skills in Kerry is preventing vacant properties from being done up, a county council meeting has been told.

A shortage of engineers could undermine prosperity, a body representing the sector has said.

A shortage of engineers could undermine prosperity, a body representing the sector has said.

The re-establishment of a tourism training agency is “the only show in town” to tackle a chronic shortage of qualified chefs in Ireland, an industry body has said.

Alternative routes to training and careers can no longer be a Cinderella service, writes Education Correspondent Niall Murray

The Government has been criticised for its failure to address the gender gap in apprenticeships after it emerged fewer than 1% of apprentices are women.

Too many lives are damaged each year by the rat race that we have imposed on young people, writes Fergus Finlay

Two young Irish people have won gold medals in the WorldSkills competition in Brazil.

TO what degree does snobbery influence the madcap rush to third-level education driven by the Leaving Certificate points system contrasting starkly with the number of young people wishing to become craftspeople? 

With jobs still at a premium across the sector, many skilled construction workers are accepting as little as the minimum wage in order to secure work in the trade.

Karan Casey’s sixth solo album, Two More Hours, is her first of entirely self-penned songs.

The provision of courses to match skills needs of the economy are among the top priorities in a five-year strategy for the €800m-a-year further education and training sector.

Some teachers may be forced to work to a 12-month year schedule as part of plans to overhaul the further education system.

Frontline staff at a Rehab subsidiary which is paying nine top-level managers a total of €903,000 a year have been told to accept significant pay cuts to make the division more “competitive”.

It’s not just IT that can’t fill posts as hoteliers and others report difficulties, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

FIVE years ago, in my book, The House Always Wins, I said that a whistleblower’s charter would not be effective because the culture of the organisation being reported would crush the individual doing the reporting. Whistleblowing in this country is only for the brave, well-prepared and determined.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has just overseen the publication by his department of an in-depth report on apprenticeships in Ireland.

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 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.

Béla Fleck will be joined by Irish performers for his first gig in Cork in 25 years this week, says Nicki ffrench Davis

MORE than 100 Fás staff members have refused to give up their claim to 70 days-a-year of paid leave in an impasse that threatens to derail the Croke Park deal.

PEOPLE out of work who resist returning to further education or participating in community employment schemes will suffer financial consequences, according to the Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn.

A MAJOR expansion of family support services in the South was announced yesterday as President Mary McAleese opened a regional headquarters for children’s charity Barnardos in Cork.