John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join Deputy Charlie McConalogue in supporting the Private Members' motion before the House. The cuts being imposed on the further education and training sector amount to a disgraceful attack on unemployed and disadvantaged learners who are seeking to access second-level education. I am surprised that the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, has decided to go down this road, given that he pioneered community employment schemes in Wexford County Council when he held a previous Ministry a number of years ago. At the time I believed he had his finger on the pulse and understood what was needed by the disadvantaged, the less well-off and the unemployed. I have to say he does not seem to be thinking in the same way in his new status as Minister for Education and Skills. Perhaps the years have dulled his thinking in this area. Certainly, his decision to impose cutbacks on the further education and post-leaving certificate sectors is not forward-thinking. The further education and training sector is hugely important. This important educational pathway gives unemployed and disadvantaged learners a second chance to access specialist labour-focused courses and secure employment. I will speak later about the substantial number of post-leaving certificate courses provided in my own county. The Minister recently opened a large extension at Enniscorthy vocational college which cost €12 million. As he is aware, more than 300 post-leaving certificate students are taught there.

The further education and training sector which plays a crucial role in the provision of education and training for people who have been failed by the traditional education system was unfairly targeted for cuts in last month's budget. A reduction of up to 500 positions in this vital service, with an increase in the pupil-teacher ratio and a reduction in the training allowances for participants in further education and training schemes, was set out in the budget. The cuts to the further education and training sector are socially and economically regressive. They will affect the unemployed and the most marginal learners in the education system. I suppose the two-point increase in the pupil-teacher ratio for post-leaving certificate schools will save approximately €4 million. Another €10 million will be saved on foot of the reduction in the training allowances for participants in further education and training schemes. Participants in VTOS, Youthreach and FÁS further education training programmes who move from jobseeker's payments will no longer have their new payments increased to a maximum of €188 a week in cases where the jobseeker's allowance is less than this. The allocation to VECs has been reduced substantially by between €13 million and €15 million. The capitation rates paid to those in post-leaving certificate colleges and on VTOS courses are to be reduced by 2%. This severe attack on the entire vocational education sector is unwarranted and unfair.

It is misleading of the Government to suggest the pupil-teacher ratio in post-leaving certificate colleges is simply being brought into line with that in second level schools. It is certainly not comparing like with like. Post-leaving certificate colleges are not the same as second-level schools. If the Minister is not being disingenuous, he has been badly briefed, as Deputy Charlie McConalogue suggested earlier. The lower pupil-teacher ratio in post-leaving certificate colleges was put in place to take account of the fact that most students in such colleges came from disadvantaged backgrounds and required smaller classes where they could get the extra help they needed. These changes will certainly have a serious effect on them. It is important to note that those who work in the further education and training sector are not ordinary teachers who can be easily replaced. They are teachers with key skills who deliver specialist innovative programmes. The loss of these skills will have huge implications for the type of courses and number of places on offer next year. At a time when there is 30% unemployment in the youth sector, we should be encouraging and supporting as many as possible to upskill to help them to secure employment. How than these cuts be justified in that context? It makes no sense to consign such a large number of teachers back onto the unemployment register, which is what will happen if the Minister follows through on the decisions announced in the recent budget.

In an economic downturn further education is a solution rather than a problem. Deputies will be aware that further education colleges offer training, re-skilling and progression opportunities to the most disadvantaged, including the unemployed. Half of the students in such colleges are availing of second-chance education courses in order to acquire new skills. They are seeking opportunities in a difficult economy rather than coming directly from their leaving certificate examinations. These colleges respond to market demands and work with the local business community to provide courses that meet the needs of employers and the needs of the economy. There is strong evidence that real results are being achieved through the delivery of unique, innovative and creative post-leaving certificate courses in colleges throughout the country.

I would like to speak about Enniscorthy vocational college which has 320 students on post-leaving certificate courses. It is a huge number. Last June some 450 people applied for places at the college. This means that 130 people were denied an opportunity to go to college there. They went back on the dole and receive €100 a week, or €5,200 a year, for doing nothing. I do not think that is what the Minister would want and it is certainly not what we would want.

It is certainly of no interest to young people who want to be reskilled and retrained and to further their education. Enniscorthy College is twinned with Aberystwyth in Wales and Waterford Institute of Technology. It is on record that over 300 students who went through the PLC system in recent years have gone on to university and other third level courses. That must be recognised and, in itself, spells out the success of the PLC courses.

These courses give opportunities to people, particularly those from disadvantaged areas, and the Minister will know this town has a high unemployment rate. People were given the opportunity to go back to education in their own home area at very little cost to the Department. As a result, they were able to train in nursing, beauty therapy, business, law, music, tourism and airline services. The college is now part of an exchange with Aberystwyth University in Wales, and it is very good to have such an exchange system and to have a university attached to a second-third level school.

The Minister must recognise the importance of PLCs and further education. He should reverse the decision taken to reduce the moneys in this area at a time when a huge number of people are unemployed. Last week, we were informed by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government that approximately 157,000 people who worked in the building industry are unemployed at present. Many young people left school and went to work in the building industry without any further education. This gives them an opportunity to get back into the education system and to be reskilled and retrained. I ask the Minister to reverse these cuts and to make sure we have a properly funded further education and PLC system for the future.

See this speech in context