STATE TRAINING agency Fás has confirmed that between 10 and 15 “monitoring reviews” of courses are taking place in the northeast.
Louth TD Fergus O’Dowd, who this week said pass grades had been awarded to students who had failed in courses costing taxpayers €600,000, last night said he was shocked at the number of courses being reviewed. “I’m just wondering how far the rot has spread,” he said.
“There are currently no internal audit investigations into courses in northeast. There are 10-15 monitoring reviews taking place,” a spokeswoman for Fás said.
The spokeswoman said City and Guilds, the British-based examining and accreditation body for vocational training, had suspended certification on two courses in the northeast region temporarily. “This is normal precautionary practice for this awarding body,” she said.
“The suspension was for two months while the trainees were being retrained and reassessed. Following that, City and Guilds received two verification reports which they were more than satisfied with. They then . . . awarded the certificates.”
Meanwhile, a statement released on behalf of City and Guilds said from findings to date no certificates had been issued inappropriately.
“City and Guilds is investigating the matter at present with Fás. However, from our findings to date we can say that no City and Guilds certificates were issued inappropriately.”
City and Guilds said it had a long-standing relationship with Fás. “We have rigorous processes in place to ensure that employers, learners and regulatory bodies can maintain trust in our high standards of quality assurance and that they are upheld in all of our approved centres.”
Taoiseach Brian Cowen said confidence in the system was important.
“Obviously their [Fás’s] internal audits are showing us that there are issues here that have to be addressed. The new chief executive has indicated they will be addressed and the Tánaiste has asked [that] in so far as there is any recoverable monies due to the state that [this] should be pursued,” he said.
