30 VEC TRAINING PLACES LOST TO “UNTHINKING” BUREACRACY
30 training places at the City of Galway VEC’s Sandy Road training centre have been lost due to the “unthinking and illogical bureaucracy” of the Department of Education. This is the view of VEC member and Labour Cllr Derek Nolan.
“Like all public bodies, the VEC in Galway have had their funding cut back dramatically. The Sandy Road centre alone was instructed to cut their resources by 30%. Implementing a straight cut would have resulted in a reduction of 15 places.”
“Instead, VEC management took an innovative approach, and prepared a reorganizational plan for the Sandy Road Centre, that would produce even greater savings and allow numbers to actually increase by 15. Shamefully, the plans were vetoed by the Department of Education on the grounds that all action must be uniform across the country.”
“If this is the kind of unthinking and illogical bureaucracy that is supposed to upskill and educate our workforce in a time of recession, yet cannot see beyond a spreadsheet and allow innovation in its own ranks, then it is no wonder that teachers, parents and students have lost trust in the government. Fianna Fáil is continually assaulting the education sector. It is shocking to think that a lot of that pain is unnecessary.”
