Local councillors, tutors, learners and their families are expressing opposition to the Tipperary Education and Training Board(TETB) decision to end the provision of Local Training Initiative Courses(LTIs) in Littleton, Cashel, Cahir and Tipperary town.
The Board says the cuts had to be made due to a lack of funding. The Tipperary ETB Board has 22 members which includes 10 councillors including Cllr Sean Ryan, Cllr John O Heney, Cllr Mairin McGrath, Cllr Mary Hanna Hourigan and Cllr Roger Kennedy the current chair of the board. Cllr Kennedy says the Board had to be prudent and could not offer programs that it could not fund and says efforts to have funding restored will continue.
Cllr Anne Marie Ryan says she is appalled to hear about the ending of the courses and says the course “have improved people’s lives and their futures” – Councillor Ryan offers the full support of Sinn Fein to have the decision reversed. Cllr Liam Browne describes the decision as “short sighted, mean spirited and adds that it will not only harm the education of some of the vulnerable students, but will also put some local community centres in danger of funding shortfalls as they lose the rental income.”
While the courses are now concluded for the Summer the cancellation of the courses means that students that may have planned to progress on a Level 5 course in the centre (Littleton, Spafield Resource Centre, Knockanrawley, Cahir Development Association) cannot now do so unless they find an alternative location. Tutors have also lost employment and the venues hosting the courses have lost rental income.
