Women's Community Education QAF
15 Mar 2007 03:44 PM
The project was undertaken within the context of AONTAS's commitment to support and resource its women's community education membership in their strategic long-term development as an important part of adult and continuing education provision in Ireland. The rationale for establishing the AONTAS Women's Community Education Quality Assurance Framework Project was to resource the provision of quality practice, to assist in profiling and positioning women's community education and in marking the importance of its contribution to adult and community education in Ireland.
QAF Project Achievements 2003 - 2005
The scale and achievements of the QAF project to date can be summarised as: One of the largest-scale action research projects that has been undertaken in women's community education in the twenty-five years since its emergence in urban and rural communities of women around Ireland An all-island project involving women from Fermanagh, Tyrone, Donegal, Clondalkin, Longford and Wexford in its in-depth research and including women from a wider area, namely the Greater Dublin area, Cork, Tipperary and Waterford, in its consultation processes. About one hundred women have contributed directly to the research and the development of the project since 2003.
Mainstreaming the Quality Assurance Framework
The Quality Assurance Framework is now established as a relevant, applicable and holistic quality assurance resource for women's community education. AONTAS now wishes to extend and expand the Quality Assurance Framework to a broad range of women's community education groups. The mainstreaming phase of the Quality Assurance Framework Project proposal origionally involved six parallel strands of work at a cost of €335,410. AONTAS has received €110.000 from the Department of Education & Science to begin the mainstreaming work in 2007. This will begin with the reconvening of the Steering group for consultation and advice on what should be the priority areas to focus on in 2007. We look forward to once again working with the women's community education groups on the QAF.
