The institute of Public Administration has opened a £4 million state-of-the art training and education centre at its premises on Lansdowne Road in Dublin. The Institute, which was founded in 1957, caters mainly for those working in the public sector, however its courses are open to all and programmes such as its bachelor of business studies are well supported by students from the private sector. Funding for the centre was provided by the Department of Finance, Dr AJF O'Reilly and by the IPA.
The new facility will operate seven days a week and those attending courses on day release can keep in touch with their offices at the business centre which has phones, fax, Internet and PCs for students' use. Hi-tech video conferencing facilities have been installed to support distance learning students and also to "host" guest lecturers from overseas colleges.
The IPA runs over 850 training courses a year covering topics such as human resources management, industrial relations and organisational development. All of the IPA's courses are independently accredited. Organic
The Organic Centre at Rossinver, Co Leitrim, will run a series of training courses this Spring. Topics to be covered include planting a small woodland (February 26th), willow sculpturing (March 4th and 5th), intensive vegetable production (March 11th), growing in tunnels and greenhouses (March 25th) and starting an organic vegetable garden (April 14th). On the afternoon of April 16th there will be a spring wildflower walk aimed at children as well as adults and a demonstration of flower pressing. The Organic Centre is based at a 20-acre site in Co Leitrim. It is a non-profit making organisation whose aim is to act as a model for commercial organic land use. For information about the courses contact the centre at (072) 54338 or e-mail organiccentre@tinet.ie Training
Flexible Routes to Training and Qualifications is the theme of a conference to be held on February 28th and 29th at Dublin Castle. Hosted by DIT's New Opportunities for Women's early childhood project group, the conference aims to encourage debate between delegates from the education and training sectors in the light of developments such as the Green Paper on Adult Education and the Qualifications Bill.
A number of overseas and home-based experts will consider the conference theme along four main channels: maintaining quality in flexible training and education, challenging trainers and educators, models of flexible learning and the impact of technology on flexible learning. For further information contact DIT NOW Early Childhood Project at (01) 662 0448 or e-mail ditnowcc@iol.ie
