The Minister for Education yesterday urged second-level students to look beyond the traditional professions. Opening The Irish Times & Institute of Guidance Counsellors Higher Options Conference in the RDS, Dublin, Mr Martin highlighted the potential employment opportunities in technical and teleservice areas. "Given the continuing expansion of high-technology industries in this country, the options available for technicians are rapidly increasing," he said. "Certificates and diplomas are extremely important qualifications in their own right and very often can result in direct access for students into the workforce. Furthermore, for a certificate or diploma-holder there is still the potential to seek further qualifications, perhaps following a period in the workforce. The pathways and ladders linking qualifications are increasing every year."
This is a particularly timely reminder as Round 2 of the CAO offers closed this week and there was a significant drop in the numbers of students accepting places on the certificate diploma courses.
"The telemarketing and teleservices area is another area of rapid expansion in the economy," the Minister said. "Training courses have been developed at Post-Leaving Certificate level which are designed to develop multi-lingual skills. These courses have extensive overseas placement for students. Thus there is an opportunity for the students to have immersion in the chosen European language and culture."
Mr Martin said students who got fewer points in the Leaving Certificate than they had hoped should realise it is not the end of the story. "There are other options and different access routes to the same goal," he said.
"The linkage between the various options is growing so students can go from PLCs to regional technical colleges, the DIT and WIT. There are also training options in Teagasc, Cert, the Garda, the Defence Forces, private colleges and colleges in the UK and across Europe."
About 6,000 students visited the Higher Options Conference yesterday to gather information from 250 college stands, including Irish universities, third-level technological colleges and colleges offering PLC places.
In all, it is expected that more than 20,000 people will visit the conference over three days.
The Minister said he saw his role and that of his Department as being in partnership with industry and business.
Launching two new publications from the National Centre for Guidance in Education on information technology, the Minister praised the work of guidance counsellors. He acknowledged there were deficiencies in guidance counsellor provision and said it was an issue he would address.