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A Vocational Education Committee (VEC) is a statutory
Statute

A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a country, state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy....
 local education body in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
 that administers some secondary education and most adult education in the state. Before 1992 VECs had authority over the Dublin Institute of Technology
Dublin Institute of Technology

Dublin Institute of Technology was established officially in 1992 under the but had been previously set up in 1978 on an ad-hoc basis. The institution can trace its origins back to 1887 with the establishment of various technical institutions in Dublin, Ireland....
 and the Regional Technical College
Regional Technical College

An Institute of Technology or IT is a type of further education college found in Republic of Ireland. There are a total of fourteen colleges that use the title of Institute of Technology, which were created from the late 1960s and were formerly known as Regional Technical Colleges....
s.

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.






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A Vocational Education Committee (VEC) is a statutory
Statute

A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a country, state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy....
 local education body in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
 that administers some secondary education and most adult education in the state. Before 1992 VECs had authority over the Dublin Institute of Technology
Dublin Institute of Technology

Dublin Institute of Technology was established officially in 1992 under the but had been previously set up in 1978 on an ad-hoc basis. The institution can trace its origins back to 1887 with the establishment of various technical institutions in Dublin, Ireland....
 and the Regional Technical College
Regional Technical College

An Institute of Technology or IT is a type of further education college found in Republic of Ireland. There are a total of fourteen colleges that use the title of Institute of Technology, which were created from the late 1960s and were formerly known as Regional Technical Colleges....
s.

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
Vocational school

A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job. Traditionally, vocational schools have not existed to further education in the sense of liberal arts, but rather to teach only job-specific skills, and as such have been better considered to be institut...
s.

Present duties

Since 1930 the duties of VECs have increased, in particular in the area of adult education. These include:

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


VECs also administer maintenance grants and bursaries for third-level education.

In September 2008, County Dublin VEC opened the first Community National School
National school

In education in the Republic of Ireland, a National School is a type of primary school that is financed directly by the State, but administered jointly by the State, a Patron body, and local representatives....
, in Porterstown, Dublin 15. This marks the first time a VEC has become involved in primary school education.

Organization

VECs were originally established in each administrative county
Administrative county

An administrative county was an administrative division in England and Wales and Ireland used for the purposes of local government. They are now abolished, although in Northern Ireland their former areas are used as the basis for lieutenancy....
 and county borough
County borough

County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control....
 in the then Irish Free State
Irish Free State

The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand....
. In addition, a VEC was formed in those municipal borough
Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002....
s and urban district
Urban district

In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
s which had a separate Technical Instruction Committee under the 1899 legislation (namely Bray
Bray

Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside town of approximately 32,000 people, making it the fourth largest town in Ireland ....
, Drogheda
Drogheda

Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Republic of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. Drogheda is the largest town in Ireland, recently surpassing its neighbour Dundalk....
, Sligo
Sligo

Sligo , is the county town of County Sligo in Republic of Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is the second largest urban area in Connacht ....
, Tralee
Tralee

Tralee is the county town of County Kerry, in the southwest corner of Republic of Ireland. The name Tralee comes from the Irish 'Tr? L?', or 'Tr? Laoi', which means 'strand of the Lee' , although some believe it comes from the Irish 'Tr? Liath' meaning 'grey strand'....
 and Wexford
Wexford

Wexford is the county town of County Wexford in Republic of Ireland. It is situated near the south-eastern tip of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort....
) and in the newly-created Borough of Dún Laoghaire
Corporation of Dún Laoghaire

The Corporation of D?n Laoghaire was a local authority in County Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland from 1930 to 1994, covering the municipal borough of D?n Laoghaire....
.

The number of VECs was reduced to the present thirty-three when five town committees were amalgamated with the adjacent county committees, leaving Dun 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 are also entitled to elect committee members. Members can also be appointed to represent the interests of students, voluntary organisations, community organisations, Irish language
Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
 interests and business.

List of Vocational Education Committees

VEC Notes
County Carlow  
County Cavan  
County Clare  
City of Cork  
County Cork  
County Donegal  
City of Dublin  
County DublinCovers Fingal
Fingal

The County of Fingal is an area in Republic of Ireland. It was formed from part of the historic County Dublin....
, South Dublin
South Dublin

The County of South Dublin is a county in Republic of Ireland, with its county town located in Tallaght. South Dublin achieved county status in the 1993 Local Government Act, and more formally in the 2001 Local Government Act....
 and part of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown

The County of Dun Laoghaire–Rathdown is a administrative county in Republic of Ireland formed from part of the old county of County Dublin....
City of Galway  
County Galway  
Dun LaoghairePart of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown (the former borough of Dun Laoghaire)
Kerry Education Service (County Kerry VEC) Absorbed Town of Tralee VEC 1997
County Kildare  
County Kilkenny  
County Laois  
County Leitrim  
City of Limerick  
County Limerick  
County Longford  
County Louth Absorbed Town of Drogheda VEC 1997
County Mayo  
County Meath  
County Monaghan  
County Offaly  
County Roscommon  
County Sligo Absorbed Town of Sligo VEC 1997
North Tipperary 
Tipperary (South Riding) 
City of Waterford  
County Waterford  
County Westmeath  
County Wexford Absorbed Town of Wexford VEC 1997
County Wicklow Absorbed Town of Bray VEC 1997


VEC Schools

  • Coláiste Ráithín
    Coláiste Ráithín

    Colaiste Raithin is a large school on a private owned island owned by the schools principal, Gearoid O Ciarain. Its aim is to bring students in to get as drunk and drugged up as possible....


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