Sir, - The Parents' Committee of Senior College Dun Laoghaire views with alarm the report of the working group of the Commission on School Accommodation, which recommends a drastic reduction in the number of vocation education committees. We believe that the vocational sector is a vital part of the education system in Ireland.
Through its community education and literacy programmes, it has provided the only opportunity for second chance education to many of those for whom mainstream education has been a failure. In recent years it has, through post Leaving Certificate courses, enabled many thousands of our young people to obtain professional qualifications which would otherwise, through shortage of third level places, have been denied to them.
Regional technical colleges themselves have their origin in the vocational sector. Much of the credit for their present excellence must be given to the nurturing they had in their formative years, while under the control of the Vocational Educational Committees.
In Dun Laoghaire, we are particularly proud of the record of our colleges in providing an efficient and cost effective service to our students. While much of the credit for this must be given to our dedicated teaching staff, none of it would have been possible without the active support and encouragement of Dun Laoghaire VEC.
While as a parents' committee we are mainly concerned with the courses in our colleges, we realise the importance of the other VEC activities. Dun Laoghaire VEC has a particularly fine record in its support of the local community through its provision of tutors to local community and literacy groups, its cooperation with community and other schools in the provision of adult education, its provision of services to community workshops and special schools, its support for local youth and sports organisations, and its sponsorship of community employment schemes.
There is hardly an aspect of local community life in which the VEC is not involved. We believe that all this is possible because we have a local VEC which has an intimate knowledge of the needs of both our colleges and community; and we are concerned that the level of service could not be maintained were our VEC to be amalgamated with another. For these reasons, we believe that the only change to the structure of our local VEC should be to extend its area of remit to that of the County of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown.
Minister Bhreathnach has said: "The enormous contribution made by the VEC sector to our education system deserves to be recognised generously and without reservation. I am happy to commend our VEC sector warmly for the tremendous work they have done and continue to do".
It is difficult to reconcile this statement with the report of the commission's working party. - Yours, etc.,
Secretary, Parents' Committee, Senior College,
Dun Laoghaire.