2,000 places in free courses for unemployed still vacant

IN spite of changes to entry rules which have boosted applications for free part-time courses for the unemployed, almost 2,000 places are yet to be filled.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn announced three weeks ago that he was removing a stipulation whereby Springboard courses were only open to those who had been unemployed for six months or more.

The Irish Examiner had revealed that just 5,500 people applied up to the start of September for the courses, which had been advertised since May.

Only 2,700 of the 5,800 available places had been fil-led before the rule change.

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) had raised concerns that the six-month restriction was leaving otherwise suitable students ineligible to apply.

In the past three weeks, another 1,500 applications have been received and the number of people deciding to accept a place or enrol is up by 1,300 to 4,000.

Another 2,000 applications are still being processed from about 900 people as the average applicant has expressed interest in more than two courses.

“We are quite happy with progress, there are still applications coming in and many courses have yet to start,” a HEA spokesperson said.

“The change in the eligibility has made it easier for people to take up places, it has stimulated applications. We were confident the criteria change would have an impact and it appears to have led to places being filled quicker.”

However, with most of the 200-plus courses already under way at 35 colleges, hundreds of places look certain to be still unfilled into next month. As well as meeting the six-month unemployment criteria, most courses require applicants to have relevant previous work experience or qualifications.

The courses range from certificate up to Master’s level in disciplines as diverse as digital marketing, energy management, specialist areas of engineering, and other sectors of growing demand for skilled graduates.

Earlier this week, Social Protection Minister Joan Burton changed the eligibility requirements for the JobBridge national internship scheme. The move followed criticisms about the criteria which meant unemployed people who had undertaken a range of training courses were ruled out for 78 days after completing them.

JobBridge was launched in July but less than half of the 2,600 places available on the scheme, under which interns receive €50 a week in addition to social welfare payment, had been filled by mid-September.

But time spent on courses such as Fás or Youthreach, community employment, back-to-work and other schemes can now count towards the qualifying period in which applicants must be getting jobseeker payment or signing for social insurance credits.

*Details are available from jobbridge.ie or see bluebrick.ie for more about Springboard courses.