asked the Minister for Labour with reference to AnCO and CERT the provisions, if any, being made for evaluating training courses and the whole training programme.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Training Courses.
10.
Training courses being run in AnCO training centres are organised in response to identified needs and so have specific objectives which are checked systematically. In each centre the training programme is reviewed by local advisory committees which are representative of all interested parties—employers, trade unions and educational interest.
A central test and training audit section has been established in AnCO under which testing procedures are being introduced for all courses and relevant certificates issued. The scheme is already in operation for a number of courses. In addition, the range of courses conducted in the centres is reviewed periodically by AnCO internal groups, such as research and planning, curriculum development section, training advisory services together with an input from local IDA and local NMS offices and officials. Evaluation/appraisal studies have also been carried out in conjunction with the European Social Fund. Finally, trainees are followed up in their industrial employment and the placement rates of all courses are continuously monitored.
Courses organised in firms with spare training capacity, such as the ESB, CIE, the Sugar Company, Irish Ropes and Guinness, are also designed to meet specific identified needs and are subject in the same way to an ongoing evaluation and monitoring by AnCO.
Formal training for the hotel and catering industry is largely conducted within the educational system and courses are in accordance with agreed curricula. Trainees have to reach a standard of certification or diploma or degree level depending on the course being followed. CERT are also concerned with the supervision of the particular industrial experience element of the courses which the trainees are subjected to in the actual industry. In this connection CERT set minimum requirements under which this training takes place. The Deputy will appreciate that the Council of CERT includes representatives of the industry and the trade union primarily involved as well as the educational interests.
While the main courses run by AnCO are very valuable, would the Minister not agree that there are some courses which could only be described as honky-tonk, and valueless, leading to further frustration on the part of those who are unfortunate enough to be placed on them?
Certainly, I would disagree entirely with the Deputy in that statement. As a matter of fact I would regard it as an irresponsible statement by any Member of this House to refer to any AnCO course in that derogatory way. I have outlined in some detail the monitoring of the courses and the examination of courses. That is an ongoing process and being improved and updated all the time.
Is the Minister aware that Deputies like me in working-class Dublin constituencies are very frequently visited by people who have been insulted by the courses on which they have been sent and that the contents of those courses cannot be described as anything but useless.
I do not accept that nor do I accept that people were insulted by the courses, but if the Deputy has any complaints I would be prepared to pass those complaints on to AnCO. Might I also add—and I am sure the Deputy is aware of it—that a fine new training centre has been established on the outskirts of his own constituency.