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Minister for Education and Skills announces the providers of 1,000 additional PLC places as part of the Government’s Jobs Initiative
The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn, T.D., today announced the providers of an additional 1,000 Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) places. These additional places were recently announced as part of the Government’s Jobs Initiative and will begin from September 2011.
This additional allocation brings the total number of approved PLC places available nationwide to 32,688.
Announcing the providers of the additional places, Minister Quinn said: "These new PLC places will mean that at least 1,000 unemployed people will be given the opportunity to re-skill and upskill. This is vital in order to give them the opportunity to re-enter the world of work as quickly as possible and is a cornerstone of the Government’s Jobs Initiative. VECs and PLC providers are playing an important role in responding to the challenges facing the labour market and I commend them for their work."
The additional places are being funded this year through a combination of departmental savings and an additional €2 million from the Exchequer.
The Minister for Training and Skills, Ciaran Cannon, T.D., welcomed the announcement and said: "The PLC programme is a very important part of the range of further education and training courses available. PLC courses give learners specific vocational skills as part of a major FETAC award which enables them to upskill and re-skill, not just for the jobs of today, but for the jobs of tomorrow."
Minister Quinn said that he expected a very strong demand for these extra PLC places as learners recognise the importance of upskilling for a changed labour market. "PLC providers should prioritise the unemployed with these additional places and I would urge them to be conscious of local demand", he added.
The additional PLC places are part of the almost 16,000 additional places in education and training announced as part of the Government’s Jobs Initiative.
The remainder of the places are being provided in the FÁS Specific Training programme (5,000 short course places and 1,000 long course places), the Higher Education Springboard programme (5,900 places) and the Back to Education Initiative (3,000 part-time places).