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AONTAS Update...
2 March 2010 Issue Number 24
Welcome
Weekly Survey
Welcome to the AONTAS Update! The AONTAS Update is a new weekly resource designed to keep members informed about current lifelong learning issues as well as what’s happening in AONTAS! Please let us know what you think of the bulletin by taking a short survey here. A big thank you all those of you who participated in the Adult Learners’ Festival 2010 - over 300 events took place throughout Ireland last week! The Festival was only a success because of your tireless efforts working to highlight the importance of adult learning, celebrate the achievements of adult learners, provide up to date accurate information for learners and ensure that adult and community education is placed firmly on the political agenda. The Update will be e-mailed to members every Tuesday afternoon. If you have difficulty viewing the Update in your e-mail window, download as a PDF by clicking here. Members are very welcome to contribute and if you have anything for inclusion, please e-mail it to Eleonora Peruffo (eperuffo@aontas.com) by 5pm on Monday afternoon.
POLICY Adult Education News
PROMOTION
MEMBERSHIP
Adult Learners’ Festival News
Membership News
Let us know what you thought about the Adult Learners’ Festival 2010 Complete the Event Organiser Evaluation here Complete the STAR Awards Ceremony evaluation here Complete the Adult Education Clinic evaluation here Each week, we will include a short poll / survey in the AONTAS Update. This is just one opportunity for members to let us know your opinions on the current issues!
INFORMATION Information Referral Service
Politics
Press Release
AONTAS Membership
POLICY ADULT EDUCATION NEWS Low education and income linked to lone motherhood According to an ERSI Study, ‘Family Figures: Family Dynamics and Family Types in Ireland, 1986-2006’, women in lower income households are almost 10 times more likely than graduates to become lone mothers by their mid20s. There were just under 114,000 lone parents in 2006. (Irish Times, 23rd February 2010) Further Education Call Figures show that 38,488 Post Leaving Certificate places will be available next autumn which is the same as this year’s numbers but a rise from the previous 30,188 in previous years. Fine Gael Education spokesperson, Brian Hayes said the government should do all it can to encourage the 437,000 unemployed people into retraining. (Irish Examiner, 25th February 2010) 'Cap' on courses keeps thousands out of college Jackie O'Callaghan spokeswoman for the 'Stand Up for Education' group has said that the current restriction on PLC places makes no economic, social or educational sense and that thousands of students are being denied places due to where they live. The uneven distribution of places was disclosed at an Oireachtas Education Committee meeting yesterday which heard calls to lift the 'cap' on PLC numbers to cope with rising demand. (Irish Independent, 26th February 2010) Only 17% of new welfare recipients back to work in 6 months According to the CSO 155,000 people joined the Live Register in the first quarter of last year and of those only a sixth started the second half of the year in a new job. CSO figures show 59.1% of those who joined the Live Register in the first quarter of last year were still on it by the end of June, a further 4% were receiving social welfare payments and only 0.3% were drawing a pension. The CSO admitted that it did not know what happened to the remaining 19.1% but thought that they included those who had left the country, had started self-employment or had returned to education. (Irish Examiner, 23rd February 2010)
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Information Statistics Events
POLITICS Adult Education Statistics 512. Deputy Joe Behan asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of students in full and part-time education excluding first level, second level, universities and institutes of technology; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8861/10] Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Deputy Seán Haughey): For learners who wish to access learning opportunities outside the mainstream provision identified by the Deputy, my Department allocates funds to Vocational Education Committees (VECs) to provide a suite of full-time and part-time further education programmes. For the current academic year (2009/2010), there are just over 41,000 approved full-time places available in Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC, 31,688), Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS, 5,000), Youthreach (3,692) and Senior Traveller Training Centres (STTCs, 984). In relation to PLC in particular, based on the annual school returns, the total enrolment nationwide was some 38,500. I understand that the other full-time programmes are fully subscribed. Over 2010, part-time further education opportunities will be provided for an estimated 125,000 participants under the Back to Education Initiative (BTEI), Adult Literacy and Community Education schemes. This gives an estimated total of over 170,000 learners in full-time and part-time further education funded by my Department.
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PROMOTION ADULT LEARNERS’ FESTIVAL NEWS Adult Learners’ Festival Events A big thank you to everyone who took part in the Adult Learners’ Festival
AONTAS Press Release
2010. Over 300 events took place throughout Ireland. The Festival was only a success because of your tireless efforts working to highlight the importance of AONTAS coordinated adult learning, celebrate the achievements of adult learners, provide up to three events as part of date accurate information for learners and ensure that adult and community the Adult Learners’ education is placed firmly on the political agenda. Festival 2010. Please find ****** press releases issued Tell us how you got on! below: Now that the festival is over, AONTAS will be putting together a report about the events and activities that took place. If you were involved in organising AONTAS STARS shine at an event, please send us through a few paragraphs about how you got on, Awards Ceremony Mon, 22 Feb 2010 along with some photographs. Please send your material to Niamh Farren, nfarren@aontas.com, by Tuesday 16th of March. New education series moves 'outside the box' ****** and 'beyond the classroom'! Wed, 24 Feb Beyond the Classroom - Programmes on Community Education 2010 The launch of Beyond the Classroom took place last Wednesday 24th February as part of the AONTAS Adult Learners' Festival, Learning Communities Day. Click to download the flyer from the event. The programmes will be shown on DCTV Chorus NTL Channel 802 every Wednesday at 7pm throughout the month of March. The schedule for the programmes' transmission is available for download. As well as these initial broadcasts each weeks material will be repeated the following day at 12.30pm and then the following Sunday at 12.30pm.
Clinic hears of difficulties meeting the current training and upskilling challenge Fri, 26 Feb 2010
****** STAR Awards Winners Congratulations to all winning and highly commended STAR Awards. The winners were announced yesterday at the STAR Awards Ceremony for Adult Learning Projects. Visit www.adultlearnersfestival.com for a full list of winning projects or download a copy of the STAR Award Ceremony Booklet. Visit www.adultlearnersfestival.com for more information
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MEMBERSHIP MEMBERSHIP NEWS
AONTAS
Many Happy Returns AONTAS have recently published a short booklet chartering the organisations 40 year history (1969 – 2009). For your copy, please contact Ciara Murphy, Resource & Communications Officer at cmurphy@aontas.com Be an Ambassador for Adult Learning
AONTAS is currently compiling a database of learners to promote the benefits of adult learning and highlight the way in which adult learning can change the lives of real people. On television, radio or newspapers, nothing is more effective than a real story from a real learner for demonstrating the benefits of returning to education. If you are an adult learner or know of an adult learner who wants to share their story and inspire other adults to return to education please contact: Jennifer Gunning, Information Officer on 014068220 or jgunning@aontas.com
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MEMBERSHIP Any organisation, group or individual that is involved, or interested, in adult and community education may apply for membership. If you feel that you would benefit both in your practice and personally from AONTAS join our vibrant organisation today!
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INFORMATION EVENTS Feminist Open Forum and Kilbarrack Community Development Project Host A Nation in Crisis: Feminist Perspectives on March 13th, 2010 10am to 5pm at Kilbarrack CDP, Swan’s Nest Road (near Kilbarrack Dart Station) Booking is essential - please contact Lisa Dowling: lisadowling10@gmail.com to ensure your place ******
Information Statistics Download statistics from the Information Referral Service here
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Information Booklet If you are interested in returning to education why not contact our Information Referral Service on 01 4068220. Alternatively, download a copy of the Information Booklet by clicking here ****** www.ifpro.de
AONTAS is the National Adult Learning Organisation. It is a non-governmental organisation that exists to ensure that every adult in Ireland has access to appropriate and affordable learning opportunities throughout their lives, thus enabling them to participate in the economic, social, civic and cultural development of Irish society. For further information visit www.aontas.com or
www.adultlearnersfestival.com. Apologies for any cross posting. If you no longer wish to receive information from AONTAS, please e-mail mail@aontas.com. AONTAS – The National Adult Learning Organisation 83 – 87 Main Street, Ranelagh, Dublin 6W Ph 01 4068220«Fax 014068227«E-mail mail@aontas.com Company Registration: 80958 Charity Registration: 6719