Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 28 May 1998

Vol. 155 No. 16

Adjournment Matters. - VTOS Courses.

Mrs. A. Doyle

I asked to raise on the Adjournment the implications of the exclusion of Vocational Training Opportunity Scheme courses from the newly launched back to education scheme and I thank the Chair for giving me the opportunity to do so. Everyone welcomes the Minister's initiative in providing the new back to education scheme. The scheme reads very well and I wish it every success.

However, I am concerned, as are many adult educators, that this new scheme will create an unequal playing field between the VTOS centres and other course providers. Students now on VTOS courses will receive fewer benefits and it will not be financially attractive to them to attend VTOS courses once they can chose the back to education allowance scheme. This would be a great pity as VTOS programmes are the only courses specifically designed to cater for the individual needs of the long-term unemployed. That is most important.

VTOS is also the only programme which provides general education as well as vocational skills. The courses are unique in offering life skills, study skills and personal development as an integral part of second chance education. We all know that VTOS has a track record second to none, especially in the areas of personal gain, academic achievement and employment. I do not have to bring to the Minister's attention the recent publications by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs entitled Everything to Gain and College Knowledge and the Department of Education and Science book entitled VTOSpell Success.

For over 12 years VTOS staff and centres have developed a wide range of skills and expertise in the area of second chance education for the long-term unemployed. The teachers have participated in numerous in-service training programmes specific to the needs of VTOS students and the needs of the long-term unemployed. VTOS centres have built up resources appropriate to the labour market needs in their local areas. They have established good reputations and built networks within their local communities.

This new scheme, good as it is, will direct students away from VTOS. This would appear to be a shocking waste of expense, resources and established networks. In effect, it would appear to be a case of reinventing the wheel. Many view it as regressive in the sense that 12 years of VTOS courses at VTOS centres would be lost. New courses would start again at the beginning.

It is not appropriate to penalise VTOS students and to further marginalise them by excluding them from the benefits of the back to education allowance scheme. I strongly urge the Minister to use his influence to take whatever steps he can to ensure parity of payment and conditions for students on VTOS courses with those on the new scheme.

To compare the two schemes, the BTE allowance scheme offers the maximum standard rate of payment whereas VTOS payments to students are means tested. The BTE allowance scheme offers students a £150 grant in September for books and other necessary items whereas VTOS offers no additional money in September or at any other time of the year. The BTE allowance scheme allows students to work to supplement their payment whereas VTOS students are means tested for holiday and part-time work. The BTE allowance scheme has no time limit whereas VTOS students are allowed a maximum of two years on their course; and the BTE allowance scheme has no cap on the number of lone parents, people with disabilities and other categories whereas the VTOS schemes have a 10 per cent cap on such students. While I welcome the back to education allowance scheme it should not discommode or discourage those attending VTOS at present, given the enormous work VTOS has done for the long-term unemployed in so many local communities. Will the Minister try to resolve the apparent inequity between the two schemes?

VTOS is now paid by the Department of Education and Science, and that includes an ESF grant. Could students on VTOS schemes be paid by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs in the same way as those on the back to education allowance scheme or could the Minister ensure that the Department of Finance would sanction an increase for VTOS payments through the Department of Education and Science to ensure a parity of payment and benefit between students attending both VTOS and the back to education allowance scheme?

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Mr. O'Dea)

I thank Senator Doyle for giving me the opportunity to clarify a number of matters. I have sympathy with her comments. VTOS, which is administered by my Department, is a separate scheme from the back to education allowance scheme operated by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs. The recently launched Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs publication Back to Education Programmes, which contains details of both schemes, was produced solely as an information document on the education programmes available to unemployed people.

The VTOS scheme was established in 1989 as a special initiative designed to cater for the education and training needs of the long term unemployed. Participants in the scheme receive a training allowance equivalent to their social welfare entitlement had they remained on the live register. They are also paid travel, where they reside more than three miles from the centre, and meal allowances. The courses provided under the scheme are free of charge. There is no charge for books or course materials. To enable participants achieve the set goals, VTOS provides a supportive learning environment that enables them develop their talents, improve their quality of life and make informed choices about further education, training and employment.

VTOS participants do not constitute a homogenous group. Variables include age, social class, educational background, labour market experience and family status. In practice, however, unemployed people, especially the long-term unemployed, tend to share certain characteristics, such as low skills of educational attainment, poor or outdated occupational skills, discontinuity in their labour market history, or, in the case of people under 25 years of age, no experience or limited experience of paid work.

The provision of appropriate educational and vocational preparation experience for such diverse groups is a major challenge to providers. VTOS has been underpinned by a belief in the right of access of adults to a provision that meets their needs. In effect, VTOS is an umbrella scheme rather than a specific programme or course. It is an enabling mechanism, a series of structured education-led, work-related opportunities which enable participants to continue their education and vocational training.

Apart from the educational aspect, the majority of participants obtain personal and social benefits, such as improved social confidence and motivation as a result of their participation in the scheme. In providing a second chance for participants to acquire an educational or training qualification, VTOS offers an important pathway back to employment or further training opportunities. It is regarded as a significant policy intervention in these areas and it is generally agreed that the scheme has proved to be a huge success, as the Senator has acknowledged. The progress statistics for 1997 shows that approximately 74 per cent of the people who have completed the course went on to either employment or further education-training.

In its overall evaluation of the 1988-93 community support framework, the Economic and Social Research Institute described the VTOS programme as a high quality programme which attempts to provide a bridge back into the education and training system for the long term unemployed. The report argued that a significantly higher rate of economic return could be achieved for measures that add an educational or training component to interventions for the unemployed. The National Economic and Social Council's report Education and Training Policies for Economic and Social Development, 1993 endorsed the role of VTOS. The report on the evaluation of the scheme, which was carried out by WRC Social and Economic Consultants and was published in 1996, was also very positive.

Clearly, therefore, the VTOS scheme is meeting real needs in an effective manner and it is important that this successful approach be supported and developed. This will include taking account of any factors which would tend to affect or reduce the attraction of the scheme vis-à-vis other similar schemes. In this context I assure the Senator and the House I am concerned that the recently emerged disparity in training allowances between VTOS and the back to education allowance scheme of the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs could have serious implications for VTOS. Certainly, the feedback from the providers is that it is an issue of major concern. I will be concerned, therefore, to ensure that the allowance rates for VTOS be brought into line with those applying in the parallel scheme and my Department is in ongoing discussion with the Department of Finance on this matter. I hope the issue can be resolved satisfactorily in the near future.