Tipperary ETB is operating at 150% of its capacity when it comes to apprenticeships.
Colin Cummins, Director of Further Education and Training with the local board says like many places there was a drop off in learners during Covid however, they have seen that rebound.
He says that there are more people coming back to education and seeking alternative routes to college than ever before.
In particular Colin says that there is continued growth within their apprenticeships and skill programmes which has led them to expand their centres offering these course:
“We will soon be opening a new facility in Carrick-on-Suir a sister location to our current location in Archers Town in Thurles. So that is great to see that increase in demand in apprenticeship because it is also feeding into economy but also give young people who are leaving school or people who wish to change careers other options of where they can go and an alternative route to college. We see that across our provision as well we see increased demand for a lot of our full time provision for people who are looking for something different.”
Re-engaging with the community is also one of the main reasons more people are taking up course with the Tipperary ETB.
“We are also seeing people who want to re-engage in their community now post covid so we see a lot of people now are interested in the life and leisure style programmes, the community education programmes that we offer around the county and that is fantastic to see that because again it is about connecting people all the way throughout the county through education and training and through the links with the community locally which is fantastic to see.”
