PLC programmes in leisure and recreation have multiplied in recent years. There are now more than 20 such courses on offer in schools and colleges around the State. Jobs apart, a major benefit of many of these courses is that students, who perform well, have the opportunity to proceed to Institutes of Technology here at home or universities in Britain.

Letterkenny Vocational School, Co Donegal, for example, offers a one-year PLC in sport and recreation, which leads to a NCVA award. Students who achieve five or six distinctions, says programme co-ordinator Eileen Maguire, have a good chance of getting into Sligo, Tralee, Galway/ Mayo or Cork ITs, where a number of places on recreation and leisure courses have been set aside for PLC students. Some Letterkenny students take up places at British universities and pursue four-year courses in PE teaching or leisure management, she says.

A number of students go directly into employment. "People who are competent in the water, have lifeguard skills and can teach aerobics are sought after by hotels and leisure centres," she notes.

Students on the Letterkenny course spend three days per week in the school and two days on weekly work experience. The course includes coaching, exercise and fitness, aerobics, swimming, first aid, communications and customer service which covers computing.

Some students, Maguire says, discover that they they dislike the leisure industry. However, as a result of the course, they develop skills which can be transferred to other areas.

Inchicore College, Dublin, offers two leisure programmes; leisure sport and leisure tourism, both of which are of two years' duration and lead to a HND (BTEC) award. With this qualification, students frequently gain entry to the second or third year of degree programmes in Britain, according to Brendan Hester, who is Inchicore's deputy principal.