Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) has announced a new partnerships with two Education and Training Boards (ETBs), aimed at improving access to third-level courses in GMIT for Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) and Further Education (FE) students in the region.
The new agreements with the Galway and Roscommon Education & Training Board (GRETB) and the Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education & Training Board (MSLETB) commit to promoting and improving equity of access and seamless progression from FE courses to third-level courses in GMIT’s Galway and Mayo campuses.
Equity of access to higher education is a core objective nationally. The vision for the Higher Education Authority’s National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-19 is to ensure that the student body entering, participating in and completing higher education at all levels reflects the diversity and social mix of Ireland’s population. This is a vision shared by the ETBs and GMIT in this agreement.
The new collaboration will involve aligning Level 6 ETB courses with GMIT courses, to allow FE students advanced entry directly into second year of their GMIT programme.
Dr Fergal Barry, President of GMIT, says: “These agreements are in line with GMIT’s current strategic plan to promote and facilitate access, progression and transfer, and also in line with the Higher Education System Performance Framework which has, as one of its objectives, to “significantly improve the equality of opportunity through Education and Training and recruits a student body that reflects the diversity and social mix of Ireland’s population”. GMIT is proud of its record to date in providing equality of opportunity to diverse student cohorts and we have the ambition of significantly growing the number of Further Education students attending GMIT as a result of these new collaborations.”