For Galway city the person to contact for the overall picture of what's available, new and exciting in the world of adult education is Pat Ryan at the VEC there. For the Galway county the people to talk to are Jarlath McDon agh and Sean Mac Lochlainn. Either of them will give you details of a wide variety of adult education courses. In the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) for instance, they see distance education as "a flexible form of education". Their Certificate in Social Care has been prepared by an expert team within NUIG who have, the university assures, "extensive experience of training in the fields of social care and adult education."
The college also confirms that, while the bulk of studying for the course can be done by students in their own homes, participants "are by no means on their own" since they have contact with other students through the series of workshops and seminars as well as ongoing contact with a course tutor.
The Certificate is intended for those who have experience of working in the area of social care but don't have formal training. It is aimed at both paid social care workers and informal carers in the home.
There are no educational requirements for entry to the course which is one year, part-time and consists of course modules, seminars and a work placement. Anna Marie Leonard at NUIG has all the details.
The Vocational Training Opportunities Schemes (VTOS) which come under the auspices of Galway VEC offer a wide range of study choices to all comers.
Depending your talent or interest, you can go for a course, under their Course 1 general studies umbrella, in communications, computer literacy/ information technology or personal effectiveness.
In their business, marketing and enterprise Course 2, they cover subjects such as marketing/public relations, statistics, business calculations, computer studies/work experience and enterprise bookkeeping.
Course 3 with Galway's VEC is in interior design; contents include drawing communications, architectural drawing and woodcraft/surveying. For something completely different they are offering, as part of their Course 8 in Video Production, studies in film camerawork/ photography, art and design/work experience and - an area of study common to many of their courses - safety, health and welfare at work.
In the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, on Dublin Road, Galway, their Adult Continuing Education programme includes computing/CADD Courses in computer applications, business computers and the Internet.
On the Dublin Road, too, they offer courses in hotel operation which take a look at hospitality and entertaining, cookery and creative cake decorating.
If the humanities are your area of interest your can learn to "get by" in French, Spanish, Italian and German or simply indulge yourself with a course in the archaeology and history of Galway city.
Other areas covered by the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology are writing and production for film and TV, basic electronics, car maintenance and word processing and keyboard skills.
Galway City VEC can be telephoned at 091-567194. The telephone numbers for Galway county are 091-562138 and 091-841411.
