VECs play vital role and as public bodies should be transparent

FOR most people the local VEC is the group which runs their town’s vocational school or community college.

From a tradition going back to the early 20th century, the Vocational Education Committee structure has evolved into a highly important public and social service for a wide sector of Irish society.

While most of the sector’s €1 billion annual budget goes into the running of schools and teachers’ salaries, VECs play a much broader role, particularly for people of all ages who are or were not suited for one reason or another to mainstream education.