Community Education

Community Education works with adults who wish to return to or continue their education, offering a learner-centred approach involving personal supports and tuition for people who have not been in employment or education for a long-time, and is generally developed in local community projects and centres.

Community Education offers a diversity of courses including courses leading to accreditation from Level 3 – 8 on the NFQ, informal and non-formal courses which are not accredited, short introductory courses, full time yearlong programmes and courses in everything from life skills to professional qualifications, leading to positive personal, social and economic outcomes.

Community Education is delivered all over Ireland by a range of providers including independently managed not for profit groups and statutory organisations, taking place in a wide variety of community projects, resource centres, voluntary organisations, and more.

CTCs are independent community-based organisations, providing training and education for early school leavers, primarily aged between 16 and 21.

Programmes such as employability skills, personal and social employment skills and science skills are provided by CTCs. All programmes offer personal and social skills development through modules such as communications, personal effectiveness, teamwork, career planning and literacy and numeracy support which are integrated with the vocational training modules. Courses are usually one year in duration and are full-time, leading to major awards on the NFQ at levels 3 and 4.