GMIT offers 13 new free upskilling courses under Springboard 2018
GMIT has been successful in its application to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to deliver 13 new free upskilling courses at its Mayo and Galway campuses under the recently announced Springboard+ 2018 programme.
The Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton and the Minister of State for Training, Skills and Innovation John Halligan this week (Mon 4 June) launched the new suite of courses making available some 8,000 places on 245 upskilling and reskilling courses in third level colleges across the country.
The majority of the courses commence in Autumn 2018, however a number commence later in 2018 and in early 2019. All applications must be made through the website www.springboardcourses.ie
GMIT Mayo campus Springboard courses:
- Certificate in Data Modelling Analysis & Valuation – ONLINE/BLENDED
- Certificate in Data Protection – ONLINE/BLENDED
- Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Media & Marketing – ONLINE/BLENDED
- Sustainable Building Technology
GMIT Galway campus Springboard courses:
- Certificate in Culinary Arts
- Special Purpose Award in Business Analytics – ONLINE
- Certificate in Agricultural Entrepreneurship
- Higher Diploma in Building Information Modelling (BIM) - ONLINE
- Bachelor of Engineering (Add-On) in Manufacturing Engineering
- Higher Diploma in Science in Computing in Software Development - Consortium - ONLINE
- Higher Diploma in Science in Computing in Data Analytics – ONLINE
- Certificate in Food Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- Quality for the Medical Device Industry
GMIT President, Dr Fergal Barry, says: “We in GMIT are delighted to get approval to run these courses which together represent a total of over 560 places spread across the courses, with almost 400 being delivered in a blended or online way and almost 100 of those places being delivered from the Mayo Campus of GMIT. These courses are designed to support the needs of people in our region and beyond to reskill and upskill and ultimately support the development of the most advanced, flexible and relevant Higher Education System in Europe by 2026.”
Minister Richard Bruton says “Lifelong learning and upskilling are key to achieving this ambition and are particularly vital in an economy approaching full employment. Springboard+ provides free higher education courses in areas of identified skills needs to unemployed people, those previously self-employed and those returning to work. Courses will also be free for employed people on NFQ Level 6 courses. For employed participants on courses NFQ level 7 – 9, 90% of the course fee will be funded by the Government, with participants required to contribute just 10% of the fee.”
“This year’s offering is an increase of almost 25% on the previous year. Since 2011 over €161m has been allocated to Springboard+ providing for over 47,000 places. The Springboard+ programme is managed by the Higher Education Authority, on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills.”
Springboard, which is managed by the Higher Education Authority on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills, began in 2011 as part of the Government’s Jobs Initiative. It complements the core State-funded education and training system and provides free upskilling and reskilling higher education opportunities in areas of identified skills need. The initiative’s primary target group are unemployed people with a previous history of employment.
