Parallel projects in Ireland, Denmark, France and Spain have been opening up a route into higher education for disadvantaged adult groups who were effectively excluded up to now. The pilot scheme in Ireland has been pioneered in Waterford, where a diverse group of mature students has completed a yearlong intensive study programme. It has given them the skills, knowledge and confidence to enter full-time third-level courses, with the eventual aim of gaining employment.
The participants have included people who were long-term unemployed, early school leavers, lone parents, older people who had been made redundant, and women who had been full-time in the home.
All have had a chance to prove that they had the ability to study at college level, and the majority have now entered degree courses at Waterford Institute of Technology or elsewhere.
The idea was born out of research conducted in 1994 by a community action group called Action Waterford. It indicated a need for third-level opportunities for adults who were disadvantaged by a lack of educational skills and qualifications.
The college and action group jointly devised an experimental access course, and when it proved successful the current project set out to design and implement a course which could be nationally accredited as a thirdlevel access course.
No academic qualifications were required to get on to the course, and students ranged from those who had left school before the Intermediate or Junior Certificate, to those who already had some third-level education. The ages of the first group of 21 students ranged from 23 to the mid50s.
WIT's educational development centre constructed and taught the course. The project manager, Ms Anne Jordan, says it was "an incredibly tough course", but that the participants were highly motivated. Their aim was to equip themselves to enter the job market - "They wanted to go on and do third-level courses that would get them employment".
The course design was validated by the National Council for Educational Awards. The 20 who completed it successfully have gained an NCEA certificate which allows them to progress to full-time courses in WIT or other colleges.
An EU employment initiative, Horizon, provided financial assistance for the development of the pilot year.
However, the Department of Education has not agreed to fund a continuation of the course - a fact that its organisers describe as disappointing.
WIT is the first college in Ireland to offer such a nationallyaccredited third-level access course, and at least eight other colleges have now examined it with a view to running similar programmes.
Because of the nature of its target group, the course has had to take on the training of teachers in the teaching methods appropriate to the special needs of adult learners, and has also put in place extensive support structures - such as counselling, extra tuition, and in some cases child care - to help the mature students.
The project has four transnational partners who have developed similar courses in Denmark, France and Spain. There is close co-operation between them on best practices, and the students have exchanged visits on occasion.