Brian Mooneyconsiders the significance of education in times of economic downturn
IS IT worth going to college when there is rising unemployment?
The harsh new economic realities of recession and unemployment have created great uncertainty for those of you considering the option of further and higher education.
Every one of you will know someone – perhaps a recently graduated brother or sister – who is struggling to find a decent job. There are scores of people in the in the prime of their life who have strong educational qualifications but few immediate prospects. They have no opportunity to use their skills and knowledge, as economic activity disappears in their discipline.
Young and not so young people are gripped with anxiety, as the previous certainties of life are replaced with deep uncertainty regarding all our futures. This is the backdrop against which 70,000 people will, over the coming weeks, fill out the CAO application.
The good news? I am convinced that the knowledge and skills of a good education will increase our capacity both as individuals and as a society to overcome the huge challenges facing us.
Why education is never wasted
Education helps you to build on your individual skills and aptitudes, and increases your capacity to confront difficult challenges. Education gives us skills and strategies. Students learned these during their undergraduate years in college.
Education is never wasted, and will accelerate recovery. Inevitably, a new Ireland will emerge out of the wreckage of our current economic model.
And we will need the skills and talents of all of the teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers, architects, surveyors, veterinary surgeons, accountants, lawyers, scientists, information and communication technology experts, business managers, linguists, and all of the other disciplines that our third-level system can produce.
Do not be diverted from your choices by current economic factors. Now is not the time to lose heart and turn away from further and higher education.
It is the time to explore what is the next appropriate step in your life’s education journey, to utilise your innate skills and talents.
If you are considering applying for a college place through the Central Application Office (CAO) in 2009, I would recommend that you look beyond the present economic crisis and proceed with your CAO application.
I would further recommend that you should not be discouraged from choosing disciplines or programmes that may appear to offer little hope of employment at the moment.
The world will continue to spin on its axis, and humanity will find a way forward which will offer economic opportunities we have not yet imagined.
If you build on and enhance the aptitude and skills that have become evident as you have lived your life to date, through engagement in education, you will experience the benefit of that education as the world economy emerges from the present crisis.
Over the coming weeks, I will outline in this series of articles the opportunities that will be on offer across all disciplines in our third-level colleges in September 2009. Potential applicants, be they current Leaving Certificate students, those currently taking post-Leaving Certificate programmes, those who have completed their second-level education in the past number of years, or adults considering returning to education, must continue to utilise all the available supports that exist to support you in this complex decision.
What are the best sources of support and information for CAO applicants?
Those still in full-time education will have access to guidance counsellors in our schools, and colleges.
Adults considering a return to education can seek information and support from the adult guidance service, available through every VEC in the country, details available at www.ncge.ie.
The facilitator service of the Department of Family and Social Affairs, will advise those presently experiencing unemployment concerning their entitlements to return to education.
Those not in full-time education who are ineligible to access State-supported services, may consult guidance counsellors who operate in private practice, details available at www.igc.ie
The Qualifax website and other online supports
There is a vast amount of high quality information available online for those considering a CAO application.
The Qualifax website at www.qualifax.iecontains the details of all courses on offer through the CAO.
The careers portal website at www.careersportal.iedetails employment opportunities and the educational requirements leading to employment in various sectors.
Tomorrow: Making a CAO application