Great response to Progression Pathways on schools’ visits

ATU Sligo to host Further Education students on 13 November

Atlantic Technological University lecturers heading up the ‘Progression Pathways: From Further Education to Higher Education’ programme visited Mayo Sligo Leitrim ETB schools last week in Ballina, Westport, Castlebar, Tubbercurry and Sligo to promote their Further Education Open Day on ATU Sligo campus on 13 November.

The Progression Pathways programme, which is funded by Higher Education 4.0 under the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 3, is the brainchild of four ATU lecturers: Gillian O’Donovan (Marketing and Languages), Clodagh Caslin (Economics and Risk Management), Lorraine Murphy (Law) and Ruth Walsh (Law).

Progression Pathways seeks to identify the barriers that prevent students moving from a Further Education (FE) course, such as those offered by Educational Training Boards (ETBs), to a Higher Education (HE) or third-level college.

By identifying and addressing these barriers the aim is to then create more opportunities for those wishing to pursue Higher Education and, thereby, drive equality of access to education for all.

Excellent Feedback

Feedback from the teachers and students to the Progression Pathways team’s visits to schools was excellent, with several colleges very keen to attend the Open Day on 13 November.

Next week (commencing 3 November), the team’s out-reach project continues, with visits arranged in Cavan, Monaghan, Drumshanbo and Carrick-on-Shannon. The keen interest to date suggests there will be strong numbers for the open day.

“We're excited for the open day and the further visits in November,” said ATU lecturer Gillian O’Donovan. “The hope is that this will translate into more FE students arriving on ATU campuses.”

Meanwhile, lecturers Lorraine Murphy and Ruth Walsh were recently invited to attend the Sligo College of Further Education & Training (SCFET) graduation, where over 250 of SCFET students graduated from their courses.

At the graduation, they met with the Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, with special responsibility for Further Education, Apprenticeship, Construction & Climate Skills, Marian Harkin, while their work was acknowledged and praised at the event by SCFET principal David McGuinness.

In March of this year, the Progression Pathways team had the distinction of opening the 7th World Conference on Education and Teaching with a presentation on their project.

Photo caption: At the recent SCFET graduation were, left to right: David McGuinness, Principal of Sligo CFET; Dr. Edel McSharry, Head of School for Nursing at ATU St Angela's; Mary Madden, Director of Schools MSLETB; Peter Egan, Director of FET in MSLETB; Marian Harkin, Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, with special responsibility for Further Education, Apprenticeship, Construction & Climate Skills; Lorraine Murphy, Lecturer in Law at ATU Sligo; and Ruth Walsh, Lecturer in Law at ATU Sligo.