Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 September 2024
852. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he has been made aware that the City of Dublin Education and Training Board has ended its participation in the vocational training opportunities scheme; if he will take steps to reverse this measure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36704/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraOfficials in my Department contacted City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB) who have confirmed, in agreement with SOLAS, it has decided not to enrol new learners in its core VTOS programmes from this September for the following reasons:
• Numbers in core VTOS have been reducing over the years, from 814 in 2018 to 88 in 2023 in CDETB.
• Findings from the 2020 ‘Evaluation of Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)’, including a recommendation that VTOS could be phased out as it did not represent value for money.
• Dispersed-VTOS learners, i.e., where learners receive a VTOS allowance but are integrated within wider Further Education and Training (FET) programmes, have greater access to a broader array of courses and facilities than core-VTOS.
CDETB are of the view that core VTOS no longer meets its aim of providing training to those without an upper-secondary level of education and that it now primarily serves a cohort who have completed secondary education and/or FET programmes.
Further, CDETB advised my officials that this decision is aligned with the focus within the current FET Strategy, Transforming Learner 2022 – 2024, and the ongoing FET reform agenda on streamlining the number of programmes in FET to make offerings more comprehensible to learners and more outcomes-based. Prior to now, core VTOS programmes were being delivered in PLC colleges but to VTOS learners as a separate cohort of learners. CDETB also noted that as VTOS caters only for those over the age of 21, it is moving towards a more equitable system where all unemployed learners over the age of 18 can access suitable training and education opportunities. I would encourage potential learners to engage with CDETB to explore the wide range of training and education opportunities suitable to their needs.
