THE ability of the Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) sector to respond to the demands of the jobs market has once again been demonstrated with the advent of courses in teleservices.
There are growing employment opportunities in the teleservices sector in Ireland and IDA Ireland has identified a need for non-graduates with language fluency. The 30 or so companies involved in teleservices here employ about 2,000 people with foreign languages. This figure is expected to double in the next two and a half years. In response to this, Ballyfermot Senior College, Dublin, is offering a two-year, full-time PLC in telesales, which includes extended placements in EU countries.
"This new course is an excellent example of the education system and, in particular, Ballyfermot Senior College responding to the needs of industry and helping to ensure that we maintain our key competitive advantage for inward investors the availability of a well educated and relevant workforce," said Mr Peter Lillis of IDA Ireland.
Meanwhile, another Dublin college is seeking approval from the Department of Education to offer a similar course. Elsewhere, Cork College of Commerce is offering a one-year receptionist/tele-marketing course. Applicants for the courses in Ballyfermot or Cork must have passed the Leaving Certificate with a European language.
Teleservices aside, the PLC sector offers the student a wide range of choices from beauty therapy through organic horticulture and rock music to export studies. A good proportion of the courses are not available within the CAO/CAS sector.
While many PLCs are designed to prepare the student for work, others offer prior training in the form of pre-nursing studies, pre-apprenticeships and portfolio preparation.
As the range of courses on offer has expanded, so too has the status of the sector. PLCs are no longer regarded as a failsafe for students who did not get a CAO/CAS place but, increasingly, are the first choice of many students. Most of the courses on offer are of one year's duration but a growing number of two and, even, three-year courses are now in place.
Most PLC courses are certified by the National Council for Vocational Awards (NCVA), which was formed by the Government to put in place a system of assessment and validation for PLCs.
All NCVA awards are modular in nature and students must reach the required standard in eight modules to be eligible for an NCVA level 2 award. The eight modules must include five vocational, two general studies (one of which must be communications) and one preparation for work or work experience. The advantage of NCVA awards is that they can act as a rung on the much-vaunted "ladder of opportunity" to third level. This year, about 1,000 places in the regional technical colleges and the Dublin Institute of Technology have been reserved for NCVA level 2 graduates. The NCVA has compiled a list of certificate and diploma courses and the corresponding NCVA awards.
Not all students with these qualifications are guaranteed places and colleges may choose on the basis of grades obtained. The certificates and ab initio diplomas cover the spectrum from art and design to business, from science and computers to engineering.
This year, the majority of these NCVA places were offered in round one of the CAO/CAS offers but two colleges, Dundalk RTC and Sligo RTC, made offers in round zero. Meanwhile, NCVA applicants to Limerick RTC and Galway RTC will get their offers in round two.
The lack of a co-ordinated approach to NCVA applicants may have confused some students. However, it is still a pilot scheme and these difficulties will, no doubt, be ironed out in the future.
For school leavers hoping to attend a PLC college, the bad news is that many of the popular PLC courses will have filled their places by now. Some colleges interviewed in May while others interview applicants in late August and early September.
PLC courses have always had the advantage of not charging fees but some colleges did charge a nominal fee for materials and facilities, a practice which should have ended with last year's Budget.
The absence of fees, is, unfortunately, undermined by the absence of maintenance grants for students on PLC courses. The Government does not recognise PLC colleges as third level institutions, thereby placing their students outside the third-level grants system.
