LAST year, 17,985 students were enrolled in the Post Leaving Certificate sector. With the drop in numbers sitting the Leaving Certificate this year, it is expected that numbers applying for PLCs will also fall.
Overall figures are not yet available but a number of colleges report that their numbers are steady. Indeed, Colaiste Dhulaigh, Dublin, reports an increase from 500 students last year to 550 this year.
Some of the most exciting and innovative courses on offer to students fall within the PLC sector - from rock music school to teleservices to outdoor education to beauty therapy. Most PLCs last one year although two and three year courses are common in the larger colleges.
Increasingly, PLC courses are certified by the National Council for Vocational Awards (NCVA), which is responsible for setting and monitoring national standards in vocational education and training programmes provided within the further education sector.
NCVA certification will be incorporated into the overall qualifications framework to be established by Teastas.
In 1994, there were 5,500 NCVA candidates in 1996, there are 15,500. All NCVA awards are modular in nature and students must reach the required standard in eight modules to be eligible for the NCVA level 2 award. The eight modules must include five vocational, two general studies (one of which must be communications) and one preparation for work or work experience.
It is intended that NCVA level 2 awards will provide a direct route into third level, independent of the points system - creating the much vaunted ladder of opportunity.
There is a pilot scheme in operation at present, with about 1,000 places reserved for NCVA candidates. The NCVA has compiled a list of DIT and RTC courses and the corresponding NCVA level 2 awards. Not all students with these qualifications are guaranteed places and colleges may choose on the basis of grades obtained.
However, the primary aim of PLCs is not continuation on to college, but preparation for employment. Rory O'Sullivan, vice principal of Ballsbridge College of Business Studies, Dublin, suggests that students look at four main areas when they are trying to assess the quality of a PLC - employment rate, exam standards, equipment and in service training of staff.
O'Sullivan has recently completed an M.Ed thesis dealing with quality in PLCs and he argues that because PLCs are market driven, the quality is inherently good, with courses continually updated. The advent of Whole School Inspection should allow colleges to formalise this and, in principle, he says, it would be a good step forward.
