Gaeilge
One hundred and twenty people gathered in the Waterfront Hotel, Dungloe on Thursday 24 January to receive a wide range of awards from Donegal ETB’s Further Education and Training (FET) Service. The awards were achieved through various full-time and part-time programmes over the last year, completed throughout West Donegal.
Many of these learners completed their courses in the ETB’s Further Education and Training Centres in Gortahork and Gweedore. These included part-time learners who received certification through the Learning for Living (adult literacy) programme in Communications, Maths, Essential English, Essential IT, Customer Care, Computer Literacy and Internet Skills. Part-time learners on the Back to Education Initiative (BTEI) also received awards in Office Skills (Level 4) and Health Service Skills (Level 5), while a number of learners from the Gweedore Training Centre received their construction studies and basic welding awards. In addition awards for Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge (TEG) from Donegal ETB with Údarás na Gaeltachta were also presented.
These part-time courses were co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Social Fund as part of the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014-2020.
Learners from the full-time Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) in Gortahork were presented with their Level 5 major award in Business Administration, along with MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist) and ECDL awards, while young people on the Gortahork Youthreach programme were presented with Major Awards in General Learning (Levels 2 and 4) and Employability Skills (Level 3) and certificates in Customer Services, Occupational First Aid, First Aid Response and Manual Handling. Youthreach is co-funded by the Government of Ireland, the European Social Fund and the Youth Employment Initiative as part of the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014-2020.
Cróna Gallagher, Director of FET, Donegal ETB congratulated the learners on their achievement and outlined the range of courses and services that Donegal ETB provides. She said, “The certification they have received here tonight will now open up many more progression options to them within the world of work or further and higher education and training.”
A number of learners spoke on the night about their experience of completing a course with Donegal ETB’s FET Service.
Donegal ETB Chairperson, Cllr Martin Hanley, who presented the awards said, “It’s an honour to be here tonight to present awards to so many adults and young people. I would like to congratulate each and every one of them on their achievements.”
In 2018, over 11,000 learners completed courses in more than 120 venues across the county, making Donegal ETB the largest FET provider in the county. Its wide range of courses can be found on the course finder section of its website (www.donegaletb.ie/coursefinder).
