This article is from page 14 of the 2011-07-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
THE demographic of Clare people taking park in adult education courses has changed dramatically in the last three years – with the recession leading to a dramatic rise in the number of young Clare men taking part.
That was the opinion of one of the county’s most experienced adult education coordinators who also believes that the demand for adult education courses will far outstrip supply in the years to come.
This comes following the launch of a free guide to adult education and training oppor tunities launched last week by Clare VEC.
“If you go back a number of years in Clare there was a tradition of lads leaving secondar y school early because the money was good for them to go and work in construction. It was very difficult to get some lads to continue on and finish their leaving Certificate,” said Marian O’Callaghan, Adult Education Co-ordinator in Lisdoonvarna.
“Now they have a real difficulty as there is nothing for them now in construction and they don’t have the skills or the qualifications to do something else. I have noticed the gender balance had change in recent years. A few years ago all of the course would have been very much dominated by females but that isn’t the case anymore.
“It is ver y hard to go anywhere without having some piece of paper. The choices at the moment around the North Clare area are they you either do training or you emigrate. That what is facing a lot of people at the moment. It is tough – but there is very very little out there for people now.”
The demand for adult education courses has also increased in recent years but so too has the range of qualifications that the courses open up for people.
“Quite a number of people involved with us have gone onto third level in Limerick or Galway and one person in now a lecturing in nursing, so the courses do give people a great scope,” continued Marian.
“I would say that at the moment we are all over subscribed for courses. All over the county I’d say that there is a huge demand.”
The Clare VEC Adult Education free guide is a comprehensive list of all courses available at the statutory and private education providers throughout the county.
The courses are broken down in to areas of interest from general education including Leaving Certificate to information technology to community healthcare and counselling.
The guide is available in libraries, shops, post offices, social welfare offices or local organisation around the county or contact the Clare VEC Adult Education Centre by calling 065 6824819.