There is no disagreement as to the history of the PLCs and I will not focus on this area but I have outlined it in my document. I would like to place the area of further education in a wider context and deal with it at a national level. I will then go on to deal with the PLC as part of a totality of further education and adult education provision and address the issues raised by the IVEA and the TUI on the numbers issue as well as the recommendations of the McIver report.
I will briefly deal with developments at a national and EU level in regard to further education. There are policies in the context of lifelong learning and, in this regard, the conceptual frameworks for further education, adult education and vocational education and training are becoming inextricably linked. Developments at EU and national level are facilitating greater co-operation, co-ordination and cohesion between Departments with responsibilities in these fields, together with the statutory bodies with responsibility for delivery at regional and local level. These developments include the new national framework of qualifications, the consultative process being engaged in by the higher and further education and training awards councils with providers with regard to quality assurance, and validation processes and developments within the VEC sector with regard to adult education provision, including the expansion of adult literacy provision and the appointment of community education facilitators.
In the national context, the principal providers of further education, adult education and vocational education and training are the VECs and FÁS. Other statutory providers at national level include Fáilte Ireland, Teagasc and An Bord Iascaigh Mhara. Adult education and vocational education and training is also provided in the institutes of technology and in the universities, in a range of private higher and further education colleges, by professional bodies and by employer and trade union organisations.
It is the policy of the Department of Education and Science to ensure that available educational resources are targeted at the most disadvantaged people across all levels of the system. The objective is to ensure that all young people complete first and second level with a high quality education and related qualifications to support their full participation in society and the economy.
A linked objective, clearly outlined in the White Paper on adult education published in 2000, was to provide for a broad range of provisions for adults. It reflected on the role of adult education in society and set out principles, policies and strategies which built on a wide consultation process which had followed the publication in 1998 of the Green Paper on adult education. In its definition of adult education the White Paper includes aspects of further and higher education, continuing education and training, community education and other systematic deliberate learning by adults, formal, non-formal and informal.
The policies outlined in the White Paper were complemented by the work of the task force on lifelong learning established by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in collaboration with the Department of Education and Science. The task force reported in 2002. Eight Departments with responsibilities for education, sectoral training, welfare and social and community development policies were represented on the task force as well as education training, social partner, community and voluntary interests and industrial development agencies.
A range of priorities for investment was identified in the White Paper which included a national adult literacy strategy, the need to expand the scale and flexibility of existing provision at further and higher education levels, measures to promote community education models, enhancement of quality, accreditation and assessment, staff development and supporting services, such as guidance and childcare, expansion of capital provision for adult education, implementation of an ICT programme for adults, specific equality initiatives to improve the participation of marginalised groups, and structures for national and local co-ordination. The complementary work of the task force on lifelong learning was on the labour market aspects and concentrated on the key themes of developing and implementing a national framework of qualifications, ensuring basic skills for all, providing comprehensive guidance, counselling and information, addressing delivery, access and funding measures and providing better opportunities for workplace learning and learning for workers.
Programmes within the further education sector, funded by the Department of Education and Science, are operated and managed primarily by the VECs, and national certification is provided by the further education and training awards council. Certain programmes receive certification from professional bodies and from a number of bodies outside the State.
Within the framework of the priorities identified in the While Paper on adult education, the principal objectives of the measures and programmes funded by the Department of Education and Science in the further and adult education area are to meet the needs of young early school-leavers, to provide vocational education and training opportunities for labour market entrants and re-entrants and alternative pathways to higher education and to provide second chance education for adults. These objectives are pursued through such programmes as Youthreach, senior traveller training centre programmes, the vocational training opportunities scheme, post-leaving certificate courses, the back to education initiative and the adult literacy and community education scheme. The post-leaving certificate programme was introduced in 1985 with aid from the European Social Fund to provide integrated general education, vocational training and work experience for young people who had completed upper second level education or equivalent. Its purpose was to enhance the prospects for these young people gaining employment.
Since then, PLC courses have been developed in a wide range of disciplines supporting industry and community needs and have significantly widened the scope of educational provision. Programmes are delivered in 225 centres around the country in both second level schools and stand-alone colleges, mainly in the VEC sector. The PLC programmes have a link under the higher education links scheme through which they also provide an alternative route to higher education in the institutes of technology for those who have completed the leaving certificate applied programme, or who were unable to enter third level education after leaving school.
Speakers have referred to the participant profile and indicated that the age profile of PLC students has risen rapidly in recent years. The percentage of PLC students under 20 years of age has fallen considerably while mature student numbers have increased. The number of PLC places approved in 2003-04 is approximately equal to the 2002-03 figure of 28,635. That was the total approved figure for 2003-04. This level of provision is considered by the Department to be consistent with the requirements of persons eligible to participate in these programmes. In the current academic year, enrolments on PLC courses in certain schools and colleges have exceeded the number of places approved by the Department of Education and Science. Teacher allocations for 2004-05 and capitation grants have been allocated on the basis of the approved number of places or the numbers enrolled in 2003-04. This is consistent with previous practise though one departure may be that in previous years any excess enrolments may have been subsequently approved at a later stage and consequently recognised for the allocation of teacher numbers and grants.
The Department is currently considering requests from the VECs, schools and colleges for the recognition of the excess numbers enrolled for the purposes of teacher allocations for 2004-05. These requests are under consideration and a decision on the matter will be taken shortly in the light of all demands for teaching resources across the system.
The McIver report on the review of the PLC sector was commissioned by the Department to examine the sector and make recommendations regarding the organisational, support, development, technical and administrative structures and resources required in schools and colleges with large scale PLC provision, having regard to good practice in related areas across the system and in other countries. The final report was completed in April 2003 and presented to the Minister of State.
The report contains 21 main recommendations and over 90 sub-recommendations. The recommendations encompass proposals that extend beyond PLC provision. There are issues which impact on the shaping of structures for the delivery of further and adult education into the future and which may have implications for other sectors. These require consideration at an interdepartmental level. There are also significant cost implications in the report's recommendations which must be measured against needs across the education system, as well as substantial industrial relations issues which will have to be processed through the normal industrial relations channels.
PLC provision is only one aspect of the Department's provision in the further and adult education area. Developments in recent years in adult literacy and community education, the introduction of part-time options in further education for priority target groups under the back to education initiative and programmes for young early school leavers as well as the range of self-financed courses run by VECs and schools are all part of the strategy to offer wider choices and options for further and second chance education. VEC outreach programmes in prisons and other institutions as well as co-operative ventures with other training providers such as FÁS and Fáilte Ireland are also important in the overall mix of provision.
The Department takes the view that the recent rapid expansion of activity in this area makes it imperative that the overall structures for the delivery of further and adult education are reviewed, with a view to establishing a robust, co-ordinated and coherent system in the future. These structures should encompass all opportunities for further and adult education and training, and vocational education and training within the context of national and EU policies relating to lifelong learning.
The options for greater integration and coherence in the organisation and management of this total provision need to be fully explored. The Department acknowledges that the further education colleges will have a key role in advancing this aim, and the research which informed the McIver report, together with the report's recommendations, will assist in the development of an overall framework.
Arising from the Department's discussions with the IVEA and TUI with regard to the recommendations of the McIver report, each of these organisations has indicated its priorities for implementation. As the principal representative body for the management of further and adult education the IVEA has submitted a document to the Department as stated, which outlines their view of the way forward in the prioritisation of the report's recommendations. This document places the recommendations of the McIver report in the wider context of the structures required to support the future development of further and adult education. The Department is engaged in more intensive discussions with the IVEA in regard to these proposals and will embark on further discussions with the TUI when the structural and financial details of the IVEA proposals have been clarified.
Issues which will influence the Department's approach in this regard include the wider context of further and adult education policy and provision in the light of the policies outlined in the White Paper on adult education and the report of the task force on lifelong learning. Other issues relate to developments in certification across all levels of the system, structural issues with regard to the organisation and management of the totality of further and adult education within the VEC structures and the role of the further education colleges in this wider context beyond PLC provision. The recommendations of the OECD review on higher education will also inform the long-term policy on the PLC report's recommendations.