AONTAS Congratulates Adult Learners on their Leaving Cert Results
16 Aug 2006 12:44 PM
Speaking this morning, Berni Brady, Director of AONTAS, said that - against huge odds - hundreds of adults complete Leaving Cert exams each year. "Many adult learners sit only one examination at Leaving Cert level, but this is an enormous achievement for them," she said. "Those who return to do the Leaving Cert at a more mature age have often had negative experiences of education the first time round, and have overcome huge obstacles to return to learning. AONTAS salutes all those adult learners who took the brave step of sitting a Leaving Cert exam this year, and we wish them good luck in their results."
Ms. Brady said many of the member organisations of AONTAS provide courses to adults hoping to sit Leaving Cert exams. "In Westmeath VEC, for example, there was a huge success story this year," she said. "In the Senior Traveller Training Centre there, 12 women - including a mother and daughter - completed their Leaving Cert Applied. None of them had ever attended secondary school, so their achievement was truly remarkable. They are believed to be the first Travellers in Mullingar to achieve this level of education. There are hundreds more adults throughout the country that, like these women, are a true inspiration to learners everywhere."
