Our Community Education Officer Lorraine O’Connor visits members of the Community Education Network across the country, demonstrating the real impact of their work and the transformative benefits they bring to their communities.
Our Community Education Officer Lorraine O’Connor visits members of the Community Education Network across the country, demonstrating the real impact of their work and the transformative benefits they bring to their communities.
On 22 May, we gathered for the 55th AONTAS Annual General Meeting, a powerful day of reflection and connection. Guided by our theme of Connecting Communities, the day was an opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues and celebrate the strength of adult and community education across the island.
As we reach the end of another academic term, we're critically reflecting on learners’ experiences of the National Further Education and Training (FET) Learner Forum. Our findings show that the vast majority of learners saw the Forum as a positive experience for them.
Giving learners a say in their education is key to improving outcomes and strengthening communities. A new model developed through an Erasmus+ project offers stakeholders a clear roadmap for embedding Learner Voice at every level.
European partners meet in Linz to drive forward the ENHANCE project and embed Learner Voice at every level of adult education.
Irish human rights campaign and activist Caoimhe Butterly spoke to us recently about joy, education, and culture as a form of resistance in the face of current world events, particularly the genocide in Palestine and the rise of fascism. Caoimhe has spent over twenty years working in humanitarian and social justice contexts around the world. She is a trained psychotherapist and works to help with trauma for migrants and refugees fleeing violence and persecution, and with Schools of Sanctuary Ireland, in primary and secondary schools.
In March 2025, the European Commission adopted the “Union of Skills”, a five-year strategy with the goal of enabling education and training systems in Europe that will allow everyone to “access education, lifelong learning, quality jobs and navigate transitions and crises”.
Learner Voice continues to be at the heart of AONTAS’ work as we pursue our vision of educational equality for all adult learners. Over the past year, our Learner Voice Project Officer Karyn Farrell and I have developed and delivered Learner Voice training across the country.
We at AONTAS believe in eliminating discrimination and promoting equality when it comes to education and public service in Ireland, both for staff and for adult learners. With this in mind, an important focus for us is Public Sector Duty. But what does Public Sector Duty mean, and why does it matter?
