Adult learners who have missed the CAO 1 May late application deadline for starting on a full-time undergraduate course this September can find out about 80 other courses they can still apply for at an virtual open evening today (Wednesday).
On Wednesday, 16 June Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) will launch its part-time/flexible and Springboard course listing and is running and open evening online from 6.30 to 7.30pm.
Neil Quinlan, Head of the Department of Lifelong Learning at WIT says that the part-time/flexible and Springboard courses are ideal for people who want to enhance their employability and promotion prospects:
“This year WIT has experienced an increase in adult learners wishing to start college this September but have missed the CAO deadline. The good news is that there are plenty of other options available to adult learners - WIT offers over 80 part-time courses across levels 6 to postgraduate level 9 each year, and application for these opens in June.”
Courses range from individual specialist modules to short courses to full major awards. Further information including fees and indicative delivery model for each course is available at www.wit.ie/parttime.
Interested people can register for the event at www.wit.ie/events. Zoom details for the event will be available on the event page on the afternoon of 16 June.
Quinlan advises adults interested in starting college to come along to the event to meet WIT subject experts and find out what the best option is for them.
“Our open evening is a good opportunity for people to find out if there is an alternative to a full-time undergraduate course for them and discuss the best Springboard & Part-time course opportunities available in 2021/22.”
Springboard+ Courses
16 free and subsidised higher education places have been announced for Waterford under the Springboard+ 2021 and Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 1 initiatives. The courses will run at Waterford Institute of Technology and will open for applications today ( Wednesday, 16th June).
The courses on offer in Waterford this year include a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management, a Certificate in Biomedical Engineering and a Certificate in Automation Engineering.
Over 10,000 places are available across both programmes nationwide in 2021.
Springboard+ provides free courses for people who are unemployed, people who have taken time out of work or education to raise their families or care for loved ones, or people who want to upskill. Now in its tenth year, over 75,000 people have benefitted from Springboard+ to date.
Courses under the HCI Pillar 1 programme are aimed at graduates and offer incentivised places for them to reskill in areas of skills shortage and emerging technologies. These are being run alongside, and complementary to, the Springboard+ offerings.
For those in employment, the Government will fund 90% of the cost of a Springboard+ or HCI Pillar 1 course. The programmes are managed by the Higher Education Authority on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills.
Launching the programme, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, T.D. said:
“As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, we will need to ensure that people have the skills they need. Springboard+ and the graduate conversion courses under the Human Capital Initiative provide a targeted response to skills needs, enabling people to upskill and reskill in areas of critical importance which have come to the fore as a result of Covid-19, including Cybersecurity, Virtual Reality, Health Innovation, and Logistics.
“Programmes in Climate/Sustainability and Energy which are central to the Programme for Government are also being funded.”
