Social welfare rules may see students ineligible for courses to get new skills
St John’s Central College in Cork city has received more than 4,500 applications for 1,200 places on its Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses, with unprecedented demand largely fuelled by unemployed people, as well as school leavers opting for a further education award.
But principal Ger Looney said many people who already have higher qualifications may be ineligible for funding.
“We had someone last week with a degree in the medical field who was out of work and trying to get onto a science-related course. But because the funding schemes are restricted to people progressing their qualifications, they might not qualify,” he said.
Anyone applying for funding under the Training Opportunities Scheme and the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) must be on social welfare for at least six months or three months, respectively.
But St John’s and other City of Cork Vocational Education Committee (VEC) PLC colleges have come up with a scheme to get around these difficulties, in a local initiative with the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
Their upskilling programme will allow those who do not qualify for BTEA support to do courses part-time.
Kinsale College of Further Education has waiting lists on many of its courses such as outdoor recreation and leadership, and practical sustainability.
“Our courses that are already full were filled far quicker than other years, but we still have some space in courses in childcare, business, tourism art and theatre performance,” said director Fergal McCarthy.
“A major problem is that people don’t qualify for grants or funding,” he said.
* Details of the City of Cork VEC and DSFA modular training scheme is available at www.corkvec.ie/upskilling
