This article is from page 27 of the 2011-04-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
RITA McCarthy highlights one case study to showcase the potential that’s there for people who take the plunge back into the education system after many years away.
That first step, often times tentative and loaded with self-doubt, but loaded with promise and possibility at the same time. That first step that together with many others can lead to a whole new vista – it might sound clichéd to call it life-changing, but that’s just what it is.
“I always think of a course we ran in West Clare, and a farmer from Carrigaholt in his late 50s or early 60s who started an introductory course, but he has now ended up doing a third-level course,” says the adult education coordinator for Clare VEC.
“That’s the potential that’s there for people who return to education,” adds McCarthy. “And that potential is in everyone that starts out.”
With those first steps in mind, McCarthy surveys the journey started by the small group undertaking the Heritage and Tourism course in Scariff, a 30-week module at level three Fetac standard that represents a hugely significant step for many of the participants to turn to education once more.
“When people think about going back to education, they often have left education with a bad experience 20 or 30 years ago,” she says, “so it’s natural that you do get people who come into it very nervous, because they don’t know what to expect.
“Third-level education is not on the horizon but this group, and any group, can do it, if they want to. For this group and others interested, what we’d hope to do next is that in September we’d do a level-five post-Leav- ing Cert heritage course with tourism involved, marrying the two. We want to start that out in East Clare.
“It’s up to people themselves. They can go on to third level, or say this is the level they want to be at and get work in this area. People can do it. Third level might seem like a long way away, but it is a very achievable step. It’s step by step. You don’t think about the big goal at the end, but the steps in between,” she adds.