Fears staff cuts at college will prevent adults from returning to education

A woman who got a job after returning to education in her early 40s fears that cuts at the college she studied at will deprive others of the same chance.

Linda Higginston secured part-time work in a pre-school centre on foot of work experience during her childcare course at City North College in Knocknaheeny, Cork, which she finished last summer.

“The staff were all so flexible, they’d chop and change to deal with what everyone was doing, we learned computer skills that weren’t part of the course but are a huge boost too,” said Linda.

The mum-of-three from Ballyvolane said she might not have been able to finish the course without the extra support given by staff after her father died while she was studying.

“But it’s the location as well, I’d started a similar course in the city about eight years ago. But with one child at the time, it was impossible going in and out of town and organising childcare and everything,” she said.

City North College, attached to Terence MacSwiney Community College and also run by City of Cork VEC, could lose up to 10 of its part-time teachers because of changes to staff numbers for post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses as part of Budget 2013.

Decisions on how the cuts impact on colleges within each VEC will be made in the coming months, but Education Minister Ruairi Quinn expects them to minimise the impact on courses and subject choices. He said increasing the pupil-teacher ratio from 17:1 to 19:1 will bring PLC programmes in line with secondary school staffing.

Linda said the smaller classes on her childcare course were particularly suited to the students, as most in her class were in their 30s and 40s and needed extra help returning to education after long breaks.

“The fact that five of the six of us in my class who didn’t have family commitments are now working says it all, especially when jobs are so hard to find these days. I’m doing five days a week, it’s only a few minutes from home and the part-time hours suit great and the extra income is a boost,” she said.

In a letter to local politicians, staff at the college have said that losing the skills of many part-time teachers will have a devastating effect on their ability to deliver courses and job opportunities for students.

The cuts to PLC staffing will mean hundreds of part-time teachers will lose their jobs, saving the Department of Education €4m next year and €12m a year from 2014.

Audrey O’Sullivan has also secured work as a hairdresser on the back of training that started four years ago with a one-year course at City North College.

“I’ll be fully qualified early next year, but I wouldn’t be where I am today without the course up there. All the staff were great, and we learned so much more than hairdressing, there were classes on hair science, customer service, first aid, and way more,” she said.

The biggest staffing cuts to result from increased PTRs on PLC courses will be in City of Dublin VEC, where 48 posts will go. This could affect more than 100 teachers as part-time staff are most likely to be let go, while 24 whole-time equivalent posts will be cut at City of Cork VEC.

But 22 of the 33 VECs will have their teacher allocations for PLC provision cut by four or less under the department’s cost-saving measure.