School leavers left out on the margins
While almost 3,700 15- to 20-year-olds were catered for in the centres operated by city and county Vocational Educaiton Committees (VECs) last year, only 400 of the 1,000 additional places promised in the Towards 2016 social partnership deal have been provided since 2007.
But the National Association of Youthreach Co-ordinators (NAYC) reports that 90% of the 103 centres funded by the Department of Education are full and had waiting lists averaging 10 young people before Christmas. However, it has found that those lists have increased again since the start of 2010.
“An estimated 1,000 people are waiting for places simply to finish their education, averaging more than one for every four places available. Many towns and cities are in a worse situation,” said NAYC chairwoman Lorraine O’Leary.
She said Bonnybrook Youthreach in Dublin, for example, has 60 places but has a waiting list of 40 people, and many other centres have similar numbers hoping to udnertake training who face a delay of at least a year before getting in.
One of the main factors is record levels of referral to the centres from schools, social workers and the National Educational Welfare Board, which has legal responsibility for ensuring all children up to the age of 16 are in education or training.
“The 200 extra places planned to be provided in 2008 and 2009 have simply been abandoned, leaving centres with record waiting lists and many towns with no service at all,” Ms O’Leary said.
A Department of Education statement said it has not been possible to allocate further funding for the creation of additional places due to the difficult budgetary situation. But, it added, Youthreach is only one element of the overall provision in the further education sector.
The situation has been worsened, according to the NAYC, by the pressure on schools not to expel students because of recent successful appeals taken by parents under the Education Act.
“Moving students to Youthreach is a legal alternative which is acceptable to parents. Other alternative education routes such as home tuition and special education units have been reduced, leaving very few other options to principals and parents alike when mainstream schooling fails,” Ms O’Leary said.
“Like many other sectors of the workforce, young people of working age are turning to education as the best way to improve their employment prospects in the absence of jobs. Meanwhile, alternative destinations for early school leavers such as employment, Fás schemes and apprenticeships have drastically dried up with the downturn in the economy,” she said.
The department said the 2010 further education budget is expected to make provision for 41,000 full time places in Post Leaving Certificate courses, the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme, Senior Traveller Training Centres and Youthreach. It is also to provide for 125,000 participants in part-time programmes in Adult Literacy, Community Education and the Back to Education Initiative.
