Cavan Institute enrolments fall
The number of students enrolled in Cavan Institute has fallen by almost a third over the past three years.
Figures released to the Celt under the Freedom of information Act show 1,062 full and part time students are signed up for courses in the college this academic year.
That’s down from 1,569 students in the 2019-2020 year, a drop of over 32%. However, it is a slight increase on last year’s figure, when 986 students were enrolled.
The number of full time students meanwhile has fallen year on year, down from 1,051 in 2019/2020, to 863 this year. That’s a drop of almost 18% over the period.
In a statement, CMETB says the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on enrolments across the country’s third level institutions and Cavan Institute hasn’t escaped this.
“It has to be acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact nationally on enrolments across the Further Education and Training (FET) sector in 2020/2021. This trend has begun to correct itself in 2021/2022 as can be seen from the data submitted.”
The number of full and part time students enrolled this year stands at 1,062, up by 76 on the previous year.
The number of full time only students is down however, albeit slightly. A total of 863 are registered this year, versus 875 last year.
Cavan Institute offers a range of courses to learners including accountancy, nursing, social care and veterinary studies.
The nursing and allied healthcare course had 114 students enrolled last year, the largest number of students in any course in the college. However, the number in the course has fallen over the past three years, down 10 on 2019 and four from last year.
It’s a similar situation for most of the 24 courses, with only a handful seeing an increase in numbers. Only veterinary studies, hotel and catering, green energy, craft and design and the PLC access course have increased their student numbers since 2019.
CMETB says it keeps its course offering in Cavan Institute under review and reacts to the needs of local businesses and organisations.
“New programmes are constantly being developed to meet local skills needs - for example this year the Institute has launched courses in Pre-University Primary and Post Primary Teaching and Speech and Language Therapy Assistant.
“In addition, it is intended that the National Hairdressing Apprenticeship will be introduced at Cavan Institute later in 2022.”
Night school
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a drastic reduction in the number of courses being offered through Cavan Institute’s night school.
Courses are offered in just three areas this academic year, animal science, core personal and general learning. Some 112 students are enrolled.
That’s down from 518 in the 2019-2020 year when 12 courses were offered, ranging from business administration to sport and leisure.
Asked if the reduction in student numbers had led to an over staffing of Cavan Institute, CMETB said there has been no impact on staffing and all staff continue in their roles.
“All Cavan Institute staff are fully deployed in the delivery and support of programmes offered by the Institute and no teachers have been redeployed to other roles within CMETB.”
It also said a “comprehensive marketing programme” is undertaken annually in a bid to advertise the college and its courses. This includes advertisements in local newspapers and radio, as well as through social media. School open days and liaison are also held.
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