this momentum in the lead-up towards the next General Election and wishes to thank all of those at local level who supported the campaign.
YES Consultation Process The previous Minister for Education and Science, Noel Dempsey, organised a series of consultations in early 2004 under the heading YES – Your Education System. The broad aim of the consultative process was to gather the views of the general public on the current state of the education system in Ireland, and look at potential ways forward. A series of seventeen public meetings took place, which AONTAS members were encouraged to attend. Many did so, and ensured that the voice of adult and community education was heard during the process. There was however a general consensus that the scale of the meetings made it difficult for all views to be heard and that the process focused almost exclusively on the formal school system. However AONTAS continued to meet with Minister of State, SĂle deValera during 2004 and to represent the views and issues of adult learners at national fora and committees, to ensure that adult education is firmly on the agenda.
Policy Themes Under its current strategic plan, AONTAS is developing its policy work in four broad thematic areas: Accreditation, Learner Supports, Adults and Higher Education and Adult Education and Citizenship. Progress was made in all four areas during 2004:
Accreditation 2004 was again a busy year in the accreditation field, following the launch in late 2003 of the new National Framework of Qualifications. AONTAS continued to take part in a number of consultations organised by the Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC, in relation to its awards. Staff engaged with FETAC around the development of a Quality Assurance model for the Further Education sector. Of particular concern was whether or not smaller adult education providers would be able to administer a new Quality Assurance model with current resource levels. This and other issues are being highlighted to FETAC on an ongoing basis through a Quality Assurance consultative group.
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