A Vocational Education Committee (VEC) () was a

statutory A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

local education body in

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that administered some secondary education, most adult education and a very small amount of primary education in the state. Before 1992 VECs had authority over the

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and the

Regional Technical College An Institute of Technology (IT) is a type of higher education college found in Ireland. In 2018, there were a total of fourteen colleges that use the title of Institute of Technology, which were created from the late 1960s and were formerly known ...

s. They existed from 1930 to 2013, when they were replaced by

Education and Training Board An Education and Training Board (ETB) () is one of sixteen statutory local education bodies that deliver a wide range of education services in Ireland. ETBs manage a large number of secondary schools, further education colleges and training centres ...

Establishment

VECs were originally created by the Vocational Education Act 1930, as successors to the Technical Instruction Committees established by the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act 1899. The original purpose of the committees was to administer continuation and technical education for 14- to 16-year-olds. Continuation education was defined as "general and practical training in preparation for employment in trades", while technical education was described as "pertaining to trades, manufacturers, commerce and other industrial pursuits". To this end the VECs were charged with the duty of setting up and maintaining

vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

Duties

Over time the duties of VECs increased, in particular in the area of adult education. These included: ''Post-primary (secondary) education'' *Vocational Schools *Community Colleges ''Further and adult education'' *Post-Leaving Certificate courses (PLCs) *Youthreach Services *Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) *Community Education *Adult Literacy and Basic Education *Back To Education Initiative (BTEI) *Adult Refugee Programme (ARP) VECs also administered maintenance grants and bursaries for third-level education until 2012. In September 2008, County Dublin VEC opened the first Community National School, in Porterstown, Dublin 15. This marked the first time a VEC had become involved in primary school education.

Organisation

VECs were originally established in each

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

and county borough in the then

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

. In addition, a VEC was formed in those

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

s and urban districts which had a separate Technical Instruction Committee under the 1899 legislation (namely

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and

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

) and in the newly created

Borough of Dún Laoghaire The Borough of Dún Laoghaire was a borough on the southern coast of County Dublin, Ireland from 1930 to 1994. Its local authority was the Corporation of Dún Laoghaire. The borough was formed under the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930 from ...

. The number of VECs was reduced to the final number of thirty-three when five town committees were amalgamated with the adjacent county committees, leaving Dún Laoghaire as the only VEC area not consisting of a city or county.

Committees

Each Vocational Education Committee was elected by the county, borough or urban district council and consisted partly of councillors and partly of persons with an "interest and experience in education" and who could be recommended by bodies "interested in manufacture or trades". The Vocational Education (Amendment) Act 2001 changed the composition of the committees, and parents of students under 18 and members of the staff were also entitled to elect committee members. Members could also be appointed to represent the interests of students, voluntary organisations, community organisations,

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interests and business.

List of Vocational Education Committees 1997–2013

Amalgamations and abolition

In October 2010 the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

announced that the number of VECs was to be reduced from 33 to 16 by amalgamation In 2011 the new government confirmed that scale of reduction but revised the scheme of amalgamations It subsequently announced the establishment of SOLAS, a new steering and funding agency to cover the further education provision of the VECs, which also absorbed the training activities formerly carried out by FÁS. Under the terms of the Education and Training Boards Act 2013 the VECs were dissolved, being replaced by 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs) on 1 July 2013: # County Dublin VEC and Dún Laoghaire VEC replaced by Dublin & Dún Laoghaire ETB # City of Dublin VEC replaced by City of Dublin ETB # City of Galway VEC, County Galway VEC and County Roscommon VEC replaced by Galway & Roscommon ETB # County Cork VEC and City of Cork VEC replaced by Cork ETB # County Kerry VEC replaced by Kerry ETB # City of Limerick VEC, County Limerick VEC and County Clare VEC replaced by Limerick & Clare ETB # City of Waterford VEC, County Waterford VEC and County Wexford VEC replaced by Waterford & Wexford ETB # North Tipperary VEC and South Tipperary VEC replaced by Tipperary ETB # County Donegal VEC replaced by Donegal ETB # County Kildare VEC and County Wicklow VEC replaced by Kildare & Wicklow ETB # County Mayo VEC, County Sligo VEC and County Leitrim VEC replaced by Mayo, Sligo & Leitrim ETB # County Cavan VEC and County Monaghan VEC replaced by Cavan & Monaghan ETB # County Laois VEC and County Offaly VEC replaced by Laois & Offaly ETB # County Carlow VEC and County Kilkenny VEC replaced by Kilkenny & Carlow ETB # County Longford VEC and County Westmeath VEC replaced by Longford & Westmeath ETB # County Meath VEC and County Louth VEC replaced by Louth & Meath ETB

References

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External links

Irish Vocational Education Association
Education in the Republic of Ireland Secondary education in Ireland