Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton TD, and Paul O’Toole CEO SOLAS, with students from Sallynoggin College of Further Education, at the launch of Fetchcourses.ie.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]ll up-to-date information on FET courses is now available for the first time in one location at Fetchcourses.ie.
Fetchcourses.ie has been developed jointly by the Further Education & Training Authority SOLAS and ETBI (Education & Training Boards Ireland)
The new website will allow learners to access information about Further Education and Training opportunities throughout the country such as Post-Leaving Cert courses, the latest traineeships, back to education initiatives and many more.
These programmes are delivered by a network of Further Education and Training providers across 26 counties, and online through SOLAS eCollege.
Further Education and Training (FET) offers a wide range of interesting accredited courses that help individuals to develop their skills for employment, career progression, progression into other FET courses or third-level as well as providing fundamental literacy and numeracy skills.
SOLAS CEO, Paul O’Toole said:
“Further Education and Training (FET) offers a wide range of opportunities for everyone. FET courses, which are delivered through the ETBs and other providers, can make a real difference to the lives of individuals by developing skills and supporting life-long learning, no matter who you are or where you are on your journey.
“FET is inclusive and accessible to everyone including school leavers, career changers, people who are returning to employment, people with disabilities and older people. FET learners include everyone from WorldSkills gold medal winners to grandparents improving their literacy skills to help their grandchildren with their homework.
FETCHcourses.ie means that it has never been easier to find the right course for you.”
Michael Moriarty. General Secretary of Education and Training Boards Ireland ( ETBI).
ETBI Secretary General, Michael Moriarty said:
“Through the ETB network, Further Education and Training in the form of PLCs, traineeships, adult or community education or Specific Skills Training courses, is embedded in every community right across Ireland.
“Yet to date, the huge opportunities offered through FET have remained one of Ireland’s best kept secrets. Fetchcourses.ie is a very significant step to communicating the rich diversity of options we offer to learners aged 18 to 67.”
Fetchcourses.ie is one part of the Programme and Learner Support System (PLSS), an information technology system which is a joint initiative between SOLAS and the Education and Training Boards (ETBI). The other elements are the National Programme Database and the National Course Database.
The three databases will collectively provide an integrated approach to collection of key data on Further Education and Training Programme outputs, outcomes and performance.