ETB finds budget for some cut classes
Cavan-Monaghan ETB has sourced finance to conclude some courses postponed due to a major €1M budget shortfall across the two counties for 2024.
A €1M Solas budget shortfall forced the cancellation or postponement of almost 130 planned Further Education and Training (FET) and adult education courses just before the new academic year was about to commence in September.It followed a national decision not to increase the FET budget in the face of an increased wage bill - arising from pay agreements - as well as higher overheads.
Despite the impact of pay agreements, and associated arrears, ETBs were advised nationally to continue with their provision, as planned, as there may be additional monies later in the year.
It's understood that CMETB did as advised, providing a range of adult education programmes to meet demand, particularly for English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).
In Cavan-Monaghan's case, the ETB subsequently managed to come up with funds “internally”, from “additional savings and underspend” in other aspects of the organisation's daily workings.
As such they “got a number of programmes up and running”, said CMETB Director of Further Education and Training, Dr Linda Pinkster.
Speaking at the December board meeting, she told members that they “prioritised” those courses with only one module left to complete.
“Next year the budget will be back to normal,” she assured, responding to an initial question on the matter from Sinn Féin's Colm Carthy.
She added that “late in the day” they'd also received confirmation that any “overspend” next year “will be covered”.
“It gives us a cushion,” Ms Pinkster told the meeting. “It's a better situation than it was in September. It is not as good as we would like it to be. We're looking to 2025 to be back on track.”
Despite the upheaval, the ETB saw an increase in learner numbers across the board, with almost 9,000 learners participating in localised FET courses in 2024. It places the organisation in a position to achieve the Strategic Performance Agreement targets set out by SOLAS.