Background

The history of North Tipperary VEC stretches back to 1900 when a Technical Instruction Committee was established. Following this, one of the first major pieces of legislation enacted by the new state, the Vocational Education Act of 1930, enabled the VEC to set about developing a wide range of education and development services for the people of North Tipperary. All our activities now take place in the context of the 1998 Education Act, which legislated for the entire education sector, the 1930 Act and the 2001 Vocational Education (Amendment) Act. Under the Vocational Education (Amendment) Act, 2001 responsibility for the development of policy rests with the Vocational Education Committee and is a reserved function. The implementation of policy is an executive function.

A New Committee

A new Committee was elected in 2009 and William Kennedy was elected as the new Chairperson. This new Committee will continue the important work carried out by its predecessors in the provision of an excellent education service to all its students and learners in North Tipperary.

Front Row: Cllr. Jim Casey, Ms. Margaret Kennedy, Cllr. Phyll Bugler, Ms. Lorraine Duane, Ms. Rita Grace, PA to CEO; Mr. William Kennedy, Chairperson; Mr. David Leahy, CEO; Ms. Noreen Kennedy, Cllr. Lily O'Brien, Ms. Josephine Cahill and Cllr. Virginia O'Dowd, Vice-Chairperson.

Back Row: Mr. Thomas Berkery, Cllr. Séamus Morris, Mr. Liam McGrath, APO, Cllr. Conor Delaney, Mr. John O'Donoghue, Cllr. John Kennedy, Cllr. John "Rocky" McGrath, Cllr. Gerard Darcy, Cllr. Michael Connell, Cllr. John Kenehan, Cllr. Jonathan Meaney, Mr. Pádraig O'Súileabháin, Cllr. John Hogan, Mr. Conor Stakelum and Cllr. Micheál Lowry.

Educational Programmes

North Tipperary VEC provides a comprehensive range of educational services to meet the needs of a wide spectrum of learners throughout the County. The services range from full-time education in five Post Primary Schools, one College of Further Education, to the provision of Self-financing Night Classes in numerous schools and centres throughout the County.

The Committee provides a Literacy Service and supports Community Education across the County as well as supporting workplace education with the County Council, H.S.E., FAS, and other agencies.

Other programmes include Youthreach and Youthreach Progression, the Vocational Training Opportunities Schemes (VTOS), Back To Education Initiatives (BTEI), Schools Completion Programme, Traveller Education and an Adult Education Guidance and Information Service for North Tipperary.

FETAC Qualifications

In recent years North Tipperary VEC has included FETAC Levels 1 and 2 so that we now offer educational programmes ranging from Level 1 to Level 6 on the National Framework of Qualifications.

Youthwork

In addition, the Committee through its Youth Officer supports voluntary youth groups to provide educational, developmental and recreational programmes for young people.

Administrative Support

The Committee provides administrative support for all schools and centres as well as the Committee. Day-to-day management of the Committees is provided by our Finance, Human Resources and Educational Support Services. Among the services provided by the Educational Support Services include the Student Grant Schemes for students in further education and the post-primary School Transport Service.

Educational Partnerships

North Tipperary VEC is committed to the provision of educational services of the highest quality, based on partnerships, to meet the educational needs of the County. The Committee also contributes to the development of the County through a variety of inter-agency involvement such as the County Development Board, Tipperary Energy Agency, Tipperary Institute, Limerick Institute of Technology, North Tipperary Sports Partnership, County Childcare Committee, Tiobraid Árann Ag Labhairt Teoranta and the Department of Education and Science.

Professional Development

North Tipperary VEC is committed to support the professional development of its entire staff. Resulting from this commitment a Professional Development programme - Ar Aghaidh Linn - was established to systematically address professional development issues throughout the organisation.

Further Education Support Service

North Tipperary VEC is host to one of the regional Support Officers of the Further Education Support Service. This service provides support for adult and further education providers in North Tipperary, Clare, and Limerick.

Local Partnership Group

North Tipperary VEC's Local Partnership Group has been actively engaged with the development of a partnership approach to the provision of all our services for a number of years. It has been instrumental in the development of improved teamwork, collaboration and communications across the organisation.