For the first time ever, all Springboard+ courses – one of the government’s upskilling programmes – will be offered to people irrespective of their employment status.
The Minister of Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, and Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, John Halligan, sent out a call to all higher education institutions for course proposals that will be funded by Springboard+ in 2018. The call puts emphasis on lifelong learning and upskilling.
Springboard+ is part of the government’s Action Plan for Education. It offers level six to level nine qualifications in areas where there are identified skills needs or employment opportunities to jobseekers who wish to re-enter the job market. It is funded by the National Training Fund and the European Social Fund and courses can be full-time or part-time. Level-six courses are free for all participants, with the other levels subsidised by the government, requiring participants, if they are employed, to pay 10 per cent of the initial cost.
In a press statement, Halligan said: “I am delighted that, while continuing to support the unemployed and those seeking to return to the labour market, from 2018 we will be able to facilitate people in employment to avail of this initiative.”
Currently in its eighth year, Springboard+ expanded the scope of eligibility last year to include homemakers and those who wished to upskill or re-skill to meet specific emerging skill needs in information and communication technologies, biopharmaceutical and medical technology sectors.
“Springboard+ has proven extremely successful in preparing people to return to work during difficult economic times”, Bruton said in a press statement. The government, he said, needs to focus “on ways to address skills needs that are arising due to … the changing world of work”.
Trinity joined 36 other education institutions in Ireland offering higher education places in May of 2017, in which 6,471 places were offered. The government estimates that since its conception, Springboard+ has provided 47,000 higher education places, primarily to jobseekers in need of reskilling or upskilling.
