GATOM recommendations: providers of adult education/training
Providers of adult education/training have a key role to play in assisting occupational changers to gain the skills and competences necessary to change occupations. The recommendations developed by the GATOM project partners include the following:
- Improve the provision of training outside of major urban centres as exemplified by the wide geographical availability of Fáilte Ireland’s Professional Cookery Nine Month Intensive Learning Programme which is offered in locations such as Tralee and Letterkenny as well as Dublin and Cork;
- Provide occupational changers with career guidance counselling and aptitude tests to investigate whether or not they are really suited for the occupation they are considering; where possible, offer opportunities for job sampling. As an illustration, one chef training provider in Ireland offers prospective students an opportunity to sample work in a commercial kitchen prior to starting the course; this provides the trainee with an insight into the realities of professional cooking and into the hard and soft skills required. In the case of Fáilte Ireland’s Professional Cookery Nine Month Intensive Learning Programme, training providers interview applicants with a view to assessing their level of maturity and commitment to the field of professional cookery;
- Offer personal mentoring and coaching to occupational changers, many of whom have been absent from the education and training sector for a long period of time, during the training course;
- Ensure that training courses are provided on a modular basis to facilitate occupational changers to focus on those skill areas where they are lacking; Give consideration to the duration, timing and delivery of education/training measures to suit the needs of occupational changers e.g. evening/weekend classes, distance learning, etc.;
- Limit the number of course participants (e.g. max. 20) so as to individualise the education/training provision and provide a homogeneous class (e.g. age, educational background or prior experiences of participants);
- Have regard for the learning requirements of an ageing workforce;
- Assure the qualifications and long-standing practical experience of the trainers;
- Involve enterprises in the design of training courses and, in particular, the development of practical or employer-based training;
- Ensure that there is good balance between theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the development of training courses;
- Develop courses that enable the enhancement of the trainees’ soft skills;
- Offer certification that is recognised within the National Qualifications Framework or that is acceptable to employers.