FG: Cut number of vocational committees

FINE GAEL is proposing to cut the number of Vocational Education Committees (VECs) from 33 to 20 in a shake-up of services in schools, further education and youth work.

While the plan would only save between €4 million and €6m a year on the VECs’ 1.2 billion annual budgets, the party’s education spokesperson Brian Hayes claims the restructured system would lead to better cohesion in the delivery of programmes.

As well as running around a third of the country’s second level schools, VECs oversee most of the further education system, as well as managing adult education structures, Youthreach programmes for teenagers who leave mainstream education and a range of community education and other lifelong learning services.