Michael Conaghan (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to refer to proposed adjustments in some of the grant structures for students of the former VEC sector. This sector is generally referred to as the further education sector, and many of the old technical schools are now known as colleges of further education.

The old vocational education sector in Ireland had its roots in 19th century mainland Europe. Countries like Germany realised that if the new economies born of the industrial revolution were to thrive, flourish and prosper, specific education and training programmes would be required for younger people. Technical schools then evolved and developed. They were schools with one foot in the classroom and one on the factory floor. The vocational system straddled that hinge between education and work, successfully preparing people to leave one environment and operate in another.

In Ireland, some of the earliest examples of these new technical schools were at Bolton Street and Kevin Street in Dublin. These colleges are now centrepieces of the Dublin Institute of Technology. The principle of education and training with practical applications was a strong belief and feature of the curriculum and syllabus of these colleges.

In Dublin city, there are currently as many as 22 old technical schools that now operate as colleges of further education. They are very successful. I will refer to one in my district, of which I have been a board member for a long time, which is the Ballyfermot College of Further Education. It sought to involve local youngsters in getting access to the film industry. That college has literally rewritten the script for a whole new genre of film making. The home of animation is now in Ballyfermot College. At the Oscars, its work was well recognised with awards to Tom Moore.

Interestingly, up to 20 of these colleges of further education - the old technical schools - are located in working class areas. They are in places like Ballyfermot, Finglas, Cabra, Crumlin and Inchicore. Students are flocking to these institutions which provide some of the most exciting aspects of education in Dublin today. I say this having worked in the education sector as a teacher for some 30 or 40 years.

Young working class males are engaging with such colleges at a great rate. These colleges are full of lively young people who create a buzz, and people want a piece of that action. They see it every day on the streets around the colleges and so they want to be a part of it. The colleges are adapting programmes to engage with young people. These youngsters would not normally have attended college and they do not have the financial means to support their desire to engage in education. Nonetheless, they are flocking to such colleges, so they require all the support they can get.

That is why I am delighted to see that a small but important subsection of this Bill promotes the idea of a grant system being extended and modified so that students in working class communities may avail of it. These are people who have almost been excluded from further education, not officially but by other means. All around this city, however, from Finglas, Coolock, Ballyfermot, Inchicore and Crumlin, participation rates in colleges of further education have risen dramatically. That is down to two things: financial support and the relevance of courses.

The Minister is well aware of what is going on in the education sector and she is supportive of the colleges to which I have referred. I would like her to visit institutions such as Ballyfermot College of Further Education to see all the innovations in film animation which are very exciting. That extraordinary success story has gone from Ballyfermot to Hollywood on five occasions in the past 15 years.

Students from all over the world are queuing up to get in there, including Switzerland, Spain and many other European countries. That is because of the prestige the college has established as the place to be if one wants to work in that particular genre of film making.

I generally support the Bill and commend the Minister's work on reforming the junior certificate. She is a hard working Minister who will long be remembered after her days in Dáil Éireann.

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