For 40 years community and comprehensive schools have introduced, maintained and promoted adult education in communities all over Ireland.
The schools open their doors to day students at 8am and close the classrooms at 10pm when adult education classes are over – a pretty efficient use of resources, without extra costs as the courses are self-financing. It is all co-ordinated by the schools’ directors of adult education, who are also teachers in the day schools.
Forty years ago courses such as art, car maintenance, dress-making, flower arranging, French, gardening, yoga and woodcarving were offered for 10 weeks for a fee of £10 (Irish punts). These days the standard course fee is about €110. Creative arts courses such as art and woodcarving are still popular, and have blossomed through the boom and bust of the 1970s, the Celtic Tiger and the recent recession.
Changing courses
Courses such as upholstery, flower arranging and french polishing haven’t survived. One course that did well in many colleges in the late 1970s and early 1980s was assertiveness for women. This course doesn’t appear anywhere these days, possibly because women are brought up to be independent and confident and this is reflected generally in the workplace.
The classes being offered reflect trends in wider society. There has been an upsurge in interest in Fetac courses in special needs and computers, enabling adult students to get jobs locally. Gorey Community School and Clane Community School, for example, offer many Fetac courses. The latter has an impressive 250 courses this autumn.
Yoga, meditation and mindfulness are very popular, and more men are enrolling for these courses.
One school attracted lots of men to yoga by establishing a class for men only and by giving this course description: “Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane both credit yoga as the secret to a prolonged sports career. A space exclusively for men to explore and reap the benefits without the pressure of being the only man in the class.” Andy Murray is an active pilates practitioner and courses in pilates have also become popular over the past five years.
Computing
Computer courses have been big since the 1980s, with a recent trend for more specialised courses such as in Excel and AutoCAD. Also a big recent hit are iPad courses: some older adults have difficulty manipulating a PC mouse but touchscreens remove this barrier.
Literacy also figures strongly and many schools offer free classes in reading, writing, spelling and basic computers.
Over the past 40 years, community and comprehensive schools with adult education have become a gathering centre where people engage socially.
One student described her night classes as a “total escape from worries and the opportunity to relax in the company of others”.
Robbie Harrold is chairman of the National Association of Adult and Community Education Directors, which celebrates its 40th anniversary at the Sheraton Hotel, Athlone, on November 27th and with the publication of a magazine
