THERE ARE LARGE disparities in the number of places on Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses between counties, new research has revealed.
While counties like Cavan and Carlow one place for every 58 and 61 people respectively, Offaly has one for every 1096.
A similar situation exists in both Roscommon (811 places) and Donegal (871 places).
The survey from the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has prompted a call for a more even provision of courses across the country.
“PLC courses should be available to people of all ages, regardless of location,” TUI President Gerard Craughwell said.
In the current climate, it is completely unreasonable and impractical to expect that students would live away from their home base while completing a one or two-year PLC course.
“Even leaving aside the obvious financial implications, such a situation flagrantly discriminates against mature students and those with family or part-time work commitments.”
However, Cunningham also warned against any further moves to “supply from for-profit providers”.
Here’s the full breakdown of PLC places per county, click here to view a larger version:
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