During July 2021, 15 learners from 11 counties across Ireland participated in a ‘Learners as Leaders’ development education advocacy programme delivered by AONTAS, in partnership with Development Perspectives.
In this blog post, AONTAS Project Officer for Capacity Building, Órla Mannion, highlights AONTAS’ involvement in a new Erasmus+ project that supports older adult learners.
On Day 5 of the AONTAS Adult Learners’ Festival (Friday, 5th March), 80 participants from Education and Training Boards (ETBs), community education organisations, Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), academics, adult learners and policymakers joined a Policy Day event. This event was organised to bring together policy makers, adult learners, practitioners and tutors from across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, through our Network for Adult Learning Across Borders (NALAB).
On Day 3 of the AONTAS Adult Learners’ Festival 2021 (Wednesday, 3rd March 2021), 22 educators and practitioners from Northern Ireland’s adult and community education sector joined a webinar which to learn more about AONTAS’ work and to share their experiences during COVID-19.
As part of our advocacy work AONTAS has submitted a number of written policy documents outlining a range of recommendations to various Government Departments and statutory bodies this December. One of the most important and recent of these was the submission made to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science as part of the public consultation on the new Adult Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy 10- Year Strategy for Ireland.
AONTAS welcomed the opportunity to make a submission to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science’ s Statement of Strategy 2021 – 2023 consultation. The Statement of Strategy will set out how the department does its work over the next three years, and what our guiding principles are.
The 17th online instalment centred on the results from the recent survey of AONTAS Community Education Network members as they prepare for a return to work and learning next month.
Sam O’Brien-Olinger, AONTAS Information and Policy Officer gives a brief overview of some of the most important new EU policies relating to adult learning including recent AONTAS advocacy activities at EU level. Sam also outlines aspects of the new Skills Agenda, the recent renewed commitment to the European Agenda for Adult Learning and why these are important for Ireland, AONTAS members and adult learners across the country.
