Further Education and Training Programmes Provision

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 May 2015

Wednesday, 6 May 2015

Questions (451)

Jonathan O'Brien

Question:

451. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on a circumstance of on-going tuition allocation of approximately 500 hours to further education learners in a publicly funded college, given that the tuition allocation reported to her Department, and funded by the State and by the European Union, is 800 hours; if such reduction in allocation is permitted by circular letters and-or directives from her Department; if so, the details of what those circular letters and directives might be; and her views on any situation, where one cohort of learners is systematically treated less favourably than another, though all are enrolled in the one school, with the one roll-number. [17291/15]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills

I understand that the publicly funded college referred to by the Deputy is a school/college managed by an Education and Training Board (ETB) and the course referred to is a Post leaving Certificate (PLC) course. The criteria set out by my Department for PLC course components and recommended % time for each component is as follows:

Area of Study	Annual Hours	% of Time
Vocational Studies	400-480	50-60%
General Studies	160-240	20-30%
Preparation for Work/Work Experience	160-240	20-30%

Teaching posts are allocated to ETBs based on a pupil teacher ratio of 19:1 and further distribution of these posts are a matter for the ETB. Any queries you have in relation to a particular PLC course should be addressed to the ETB.