Free and subsidised higher education places will be made available across the western region to people who are looking to upskill or reskill, Fine Gael Deputy Alan Dillon has said.
Deputy Dillon stated: "I welcome the announcement from the Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD, and Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor and Minister of State for Training Skills, Innovation, Research and Development John Halligan, that almost 17,000 new places will be made available to people seeking to upskill or reskill.
"In total, 13,000 places will be made available in 2020, with the additional 4,000 places coming on stream over the remaining two years under the Springboard+ 2020 and Human Capital Initiative (HCI ) Pillar 1 programmes.
"As part of Springboard+ 2020, a total of 597 places are available across 19 courses at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, nine of which are based in the Mayo campus.
"Places are available on courses in a wide range of skills areas, including artificial intelligence, smart factory technology, sustainable energy, medical device technology and cybersecurity. The courses are: Certificate in Building Digital Healthcare Communities; Certificate in Business Analytics; Certificate in Certificate in Digitalisation for SMEs (Digital Media and Marketing ); Certificate in Climate Resilience for Business; Certificate in Digital Mapping and GIS (Geographical Information Systems ); Certificate in Digital Media and Marketing; Certificate in Information Technology Project Management; Certificate in Network Cybersecurity and Certificate in Sustainable Building Technology."
Dillon went on to say: "Approval has also been given for courses under HCI Pillar 1 to run for three academic years from 2020/21 to 2022/23. A total of 338 places are available across six courses at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology; 2,129 places on both programmes are also being made available as a result of investment by the Government of an additional €10 million in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Fine Gael is committed to building a world-class education system from early years to Higher and Further Education, offering ladders of opportunity to people throughout their life.
"Higher and Further Education have been greatly affected by the Covid-19 crisis and we will support the sector through these challenges, to ensure that educational opportunities remain and are made more accessible to the people.
"The National Training Fund Advisory Group has considered the principles and priorities of the National Training Fund (NTF ) in light of the transformed economic and labour market landscape arising from COVID-19. These priorities were confirmed by the National Skills Council. Among these principles were: the need for an immediate focus on providing relevant skills for those affected by the crisis underpinning their employability and access into sustainable and quality employment and the need for focused and agile programmes consistent with the current priorities for skills provision.
"To enable a skills-focused response to employment issues arising from the Covid-19 crisis, €10 million has been repurposed from HCI Pillar 3 to provide extra funding for upskilling and reskilling courses under Springboard+ and HCI Pillar 1.
"Courses are in areas that have been deemed by Government as being of critical importance: digital skills, soft skills, management and leadership, and the workplace of the future.
"Candidates who wish to participate in Springboard+ 2020 or HCI pillar 1 courses will find full details on the approved courses on the dedicated information and applications website www.springboardcourses.ie"
