Adult education continued in 2020
Further Education and Training (FET) has this year faced unprecedented times in the provision of teaching and learning, beginning with the Government announcement on March 12 that FET provision countrywide was to move to remote learning due to COVID-19 guidelines. Throughout 2020 LMETB has successfully risen to the challenges which the pandemic has presented.
Since March, staff have worked with persistence and determination to ensure quality teaching and learning for all. whether through times of remote, blended or in-centre learning,
Students were able to access laptops thanks to the Department of Further and Higher Education’s Laptop Loan Scheme, targeting the most disadvantaged of learners.
Throughout all this change though, FET in LMETB has continued to ensure that the holistic approach to teaching and learning remains core in its provision. The supports offered by teachers and management through remote and blended learning have become a social outlet for learners who themselves have been feeling the effects of isolation due to COVID-19.
The experiences of managing
teaching and learning in the FET Centre, Chapel St, Dundalk has been no different. The efforts of all staff and learners between March and June this year culminated in the successful certification of VTOS and BTEI learners at QQI Levels 3, 4 and 5 as well, as the conclusion of the Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades process for many learners with Results Day in September 2020.
The government announcement regarding the reopening of FET Centres in September 2020 started the process of welcoming learners back. Management and teachers endeavoured to create a safe environment for
learners and staff to return to work and learning. Staff and learners applied the ICT skills developed over the previous months and even though faceto-face provision was coming back, they prepared for the uncertainty created by Covid-19 by embedding the use of technology in their teaching and learning.
Since March 2020 and the initial days of COVID-19 the FET staff team has grown. Recent additions to the staffing structures which support FET teaching and learning include LMETB’s Quality Assurance Office and Employer Engagement/Industry links office, as
well as newly-formed services which offer a key support to staff in the current climate of IT-focused learning.
The FET Centre Dundalk offers a range of services to FET learners and the general public, including its full-time programmes in VTOS, its parttime programmes in BTEI and Louth Adult Education Guidance and Information Service (LAEGIS).
Any adult wishing to return to learning, to upskill or to reskill, should contact LAEGIS at laegis@lmetb.ie or on 087 2300195 or on social media at Facebook @laegis for more information.