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ADULT EDUCATION
Through its Adult Education programme the Partnership aims to give residents of the area, who have not progressed their education as they would wish, the opportunity to avail of education and training to suit their needs and to support local groups in providing education and training programmes.

Return to Learning
Return to learning: Many adults feel that they would like to go back into some kind of formal education but think that they have been out of education for too long and don’t have the basic skills required (reading, writing, computers etc.,) or perhaps that schooldays were not necessarily the happiest days of their life.  The Canal Communities Partnership encourages adults to consider returning to learning and training and we aim to provide the support and information to make this ambition happen. 

Over the last two years we have supported educational programmes in community settings in the Canal area such as the Community Leadership courses run in Dolphin House and the Oblates Inchicore.  Some participants on these courses have progressed on to the Inchicore College of Further Education (ICFE) and NUI Maynooth.  This year we plan to begin Personal Effectiveness courses and Parenting Skills for Men courses in late September.  We also have close links with ICFE. During the summer of this year (2009) we ran the Foundations for Further Learning course for students who are due to start in the college in September. We are also involved in establishing a Mature Students Society in the college which will be an added support for adults who are facing the new challenges that going back to education can bring.

The Partnership also seeks to develop basic adult education programmes such as Learning for Fun in local community settings. These courses combine one off sessions by guest speakers and field trips to places of interest decided on by the participants themselves.

Working with Men
The Partnership supports the development of the Inchicore Men's Group which offers opportunities to local men to meet, socialise and participate in education initiatives designed to meet their needs. A network of people working with men in Bluebell and Rialto is also facilitated by the Partnership in order to share resources and provide support to each other and pursue development work with men such as the provision of a Parenting Skills course.

The Parenting Skills course for men, which has been made possible with funding secured from the Department of Social and Family Affairs, resulted from the work of the Bluebell and Rialto network which was set up by the Partnership. The purpose of the course is to help men to gain skills in establishing, developing and maintaining good relationships with their sons and daughters whether they be young children, teenagers or adults. The course is open to all men whether they live in the family home or whether they have formed other relationships or live alone. The primary purpose is to help men develop good, healthy relationships that can lead to providing good role models for their families.

Access to Education Information
A number of access information events and workshops are provided in spring and summer for people who want to return to education. These events outline the educational and training options available, such as courses, progress routes and financial supports both in formal education and in community settings. There is also a special focus event on CAO applications and procedures held in the autumn.

Adult Education Network

The Canal Adult Education Providers’ Network has developed out of the Equality for Women Measure. The network’s aims are to co-ordinate and develop links between the five adult education providers of Rialto, Dolphin House, Bluebell, Fatima, St. Michael’s Estate and statutory agencies such as the CDVEC. The network is designed to respond to the needs of local residents and provide suitable educational programmes. The Partnership also supports networking events for local adult education providers. The events provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences and information. It also provides opportunities to focus on the current changes within education and helps groups take initiatives to benefit from those changes.

Community Employment
There are nine FAS Community Employment schemes in operation across the Partnership area. These schemes are mostly community based with a total of more than 250 participants. The Partnership provides support to these schemes to help them to continue to improve both the service to local communities as well as enhancing the chances of participants moving on to full time employment or further education.

If you want to find out more about this work or need help in getting back to education, please contact our Adult Education Co-ordinator at (01) 473 2196.

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