Ms Emer Neville:

As progression to university is emphasised as a top achievement throughout education, access to further education and other post-secondary school options are perceived as being less valuable and less of an achievement. However, as all present are aware, the reality is that university education is not the only tool for achieving success in one's life and future career. That said, as the points system is the only mechanism for measuring the achievements of students, it is clear why some students who achieve lower points, miss out on a university place by a small margin or choose to progress to other forms of further education feel like they have failed their second-level education. As Ms Austick stated, we must normalise and remove the stigma in respect of PLC courses, apprenticeship programmes and other forms of further and higher education. The ISSU believes the goal should be to support students when selecting these options and to provide more supports to the likes of apprenticeship programmes, further education and training programmes and PLC programmes in order to remove the hierarchy that exists within the education system.