Calls to end cap on PLC places

THE cap on places on Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses must be removed to give disadvantaged students a chance to continue their education.

President of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) Paddy Healy said many young people, including those who have done the Leaving Certificate Applied programme, rely on these courses to access further and higher education.

“It is incomprehensible that the recent report of the Government’s Enterprise Strategy Group should recommend a ‘One Step Up’ initiative in relation to the educational attainments of the entire population on the one hand, and that the Minister for Education should be cutting back at the same time on the sector which has already implemented such a policy with dramatically successful results,” he said.

Around 29,000 people take part in PLC courses but the Department of Education has refused to allocate additional teaching staff, despite an increase of 2,000 enrolments in the past year. This has also led to fears of students being unable to continue courses they have already begun.

Mr Healy described the tendency in some quarters to equate success with securing a university place as quaint. He said the institutes of technology, which register more full-time students each year than the universities, offer a variety of courses that cater for a significant proportion of school-leavers.

The Union of Secondary Students (USS) last night called for a reform of the examination system to ease pressure on young people.

“It’s a form of cruelty to assess a student’s five or six years in second level education purely on the results of a few highly pressurised hours. Ireland has one of the highest suicide rates among young people in Europe, a figure we believe is contributed to by exam stress,” said USS president Emer Ní Chúagáin.

Students unhappy with grades and who wish to view their exam scripts must return application forms, which are available through schools, to the State Examinations Commission (SEC) by next Tuesday. The requested scripts will be available to view at the students’ schools on September 3 and 4.

Formal appeal applications must be received by the SEC before September 8 and the results will be issued in mid-October.

** The National Parents (Post Primary) Council helpline - 1800 265 165 - is open until 10pm tonight and tomorrow.

Other educational options available to school leavers

Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses - available through further education colleges, most of which are operated by city and county Vocational Education Committees (VECs). Contact details for all 32 VECs are available from the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) at 01 4966033 or its website (www.ivea.ie)

Apprenticeships - contact your local FÁS office (see phone directory or www.fas.ie)

Hospitality and tourism courses - walk-in interviews for Fáilte Ireland certificate courses at nine institutes of technology from next Monday, Call save 1850 256 or visit www.failteireland.ie

Agricultural training - vocational courses in all aspects of agriculture, including green keeping, organic farming and forestry - available at Teagasc and other training centres around the country.

Contact Teagasc on 01 6376000 or visit www.teagasc.ie