Gaeilge
Three hundred Further Education and Training (FET) students, along with family, friends and staff, gathered in the Radisson Hotel, Letterkenny on Thursday last to receive a wide range of awards from Donegal ETB’s FET Service.
Students achieved certification in a range of full-time and a part-time courses over the last year, completed in Donegal ETB’s FET Centres in Gweedore, Letterkenny and Milford and in their local communities.
Certificates were presented by Donegal ETB Chairperson, Geoffrey Browne, in a wide range of subject areas from Levels 1 to 5 including Accounting Technician, Automated Software Tester, Beauty Therapy, Bookkeeping, Bus Driver, Business Administration/Management, Catering, Childcare, Communications, Construction Operative, Digital Imaging, Digital Sales, Door Security and Guarding Skills, ECDL/ICT, Employability Skills, Engineering Operations, First Aid, Hairdressing, Healthcare Support/Service Skills, HGV and Artic driving, Horticulture, IT Support, Java Foundation, Job Start, Leaving Certificate, Make-Up, Manicure and Pedicure, Multimedia, Oil Fired Appliances Servicing, Office Skills and Tourism, Outdoor Activity Instructor, Payroll, Retail Skills, Software Developer, Special Needs Assistant, Supervisory Management, Surf Instructor and Beach Lifeguard, Training and Development, Web Design and Welding.
They were accredited through Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), City and Guilds, Mountaineering Ireland, Irish Sailing Association, Irish Canoe Union and Oil and Renewable Heat Technologies (OFTEC) amongst others.
Many of the FET 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.
Speaking at the awards, Cróna Gallagher, Director of FET, Donegal ETB congratulated all the students saying, “I’m delighted to be able to share in their achievements. 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 students also spoke on the night about their experience of completing a FET course with Donegal ETB. These included Nora Demeter (Office Skills and ECDL with Bookkeeping), Marie Lafferty (Horticulture), Sheila Leeper (Accounting Technician) and Colin Chambers (Leaving Certificate).
In 2018, over 11,000 students completed courses in more than one hundred 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).
A photographic video of the awards can be viewed here.
Image credit: Clive Wasson Photography.
