Stay at home mum going back to education

H

Henny Penny

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I was having a discussion with a friend of mine who is also a stay at home mum.

She was thinking about going back to do a FETAC course while her children are at school. She went to the introductory day of the course where she was told about the grants and allowances she could apply for. There she said her eyes were opened ... to a whole other world of people with no interest in this course, doing a course for the sake of it to get the benefits or keep the sw benefits.

As it turns out she won't end up doing the course, as some of it is outside of school hours, which would mean finding and paying for childcare. Incidentally she's entitled to nothing ... no grant, no back to education allowance because her husbands' income is above 50K annually.

It made me so mad to hear this ... if you milk the system you get everything, but if you don't you're left with no support at all. Great country we live in.
 
There you have it H P. If we didn't have a Welfare system at all, then there wouldn't be those who rip it off and if we banned supermarkets, Dept stores and all such help-yourself outlets there wouldn't be shop-lifters. In other words, there is a price to be paid for everything.

As to your friend she should consider herself lucky to be married to a guy who earns that amount of money. There are lots of subscribers contributing to this Forum who wouldn't mind having that complaint!
 
A lot of these courses are run to get people off the dole, which is why to be eligible for funding you would have to fit one of the categories, ie. be signing on or be a one parent family or on disibility etc.You can actually join a course but not get funding.You then have to pay to do the exams but it's not a lot. You will find that if you want to do the FETAC you can. The people on benefits wont be getting anything like €50,000. and in a lot of cases what they get wont cover their expenses either. €4 is paid weekly for food. A sandwich in Tesco will set you back give or take €2. So dont get the idea that they are all rolling in money just because they happen to be on a course.
 
Hi

I am a course director of one of these FETAC approved courses. Every year I see certain people applying for our courses because they want to apply for VTOS or BTE. If they get VTOS they also get free childcare aswell as many other benefits.(exam fees paid, book rental scheme, travel allowance!)

Your friend is being penalised for staying at home and rearing her children. I see it every year. However if she hasn't received the student grant before she should be able to access it. Regardless of whether her husband is earning over 50k or not other factors are taken cognisance of eg dependants, loans etc. She actually might get it.

It's sad to think that SOME people are only doing these courses for the money as FETAC offer wonderful recognised qualifications. I have a degree, a masters and a PhD....I didn't get a penny while I was doing any of these....funded by loans and indeed my wonderful parents who often borrowed on my behalf.

Also if your friend is still interested then there are ther routes to FETAC courses...what about at night? Hibbie would be home to mind children maybe?

If there's a will there's a way.
 
Henny Penny said:
She went to the introductory day of the course where she was told about the grants and allowances she could apply for. There she said her eyes were opened ... to a whole other world of people with no interest in this course, doing a course for the sake of it to get the benefits or keep the sw benefits.

As it turns out she won't end up doing the course, as some of it is outside of school hours, which would mean finding and paying for childcare. Incidentally she's entitled to nothing ... no grant, no back to education allowance because her husbands' income is above 50K annually.

It made me so mad to hear this ... if you milk the system you get everything, but if you don't you're left with no support at all. Great country we live in.
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Specifically what grants/allowances/benefits are others entitled to and in precisely what circumstances? How would your friend be worse off than legitimate claimants of such grants/allowances/benefits if that is the implication? What evidence do you/she have of any "milking of the system" going on here?
 
How could she tell that all those other people were not interested in the course?

Just because they are on welfare doesn't automatically mean that they don't want to better themselves either.

If she won't do the course because she will have to pay for childcare, aren't the other people entitled to consider all their circumstances too?
 
Thanks for the replies.

I am just relating the experience my friend had when attending the induction. She could tell these people were not interested in the course because many of them said so, it was just the one that suited them time wise.

I do not deny that there are many genuine candidates out there, but I often you come across people who jump from one course to another ... without ever getting a job. If these people are supported by the social welfare system, surely there must be a limit to the amount of courses they can do before the sw says enough is enough ... you've had the training, you've had the work experience now go and look for a job.

Where is the incentive for stay at home mothers to return to the workplace?
 
Could it be that there are no jobs to be got and some people do not have the choice.They might actually prefer to be at work than on a 'course'. A lot of these courses are not designed to put people back to work. The idea is to get them off the unemployment register that's all there is to it.The same courses run year after year with no progression, it keeps the people who run them in jobs.There is funding from the EU, and other sources and the money has to be used. I believe it could be put to better use by maybe better IT training or something which would be of more benefit in the long term. How many childcare courses do we need in the same area? The same tutor is going from one centre to another on the same day. How ridiculous.
 
Henny Penny said:
Where is the incentive for stay at home mothers to return to the workplace?
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In the pay and conditions offered by employers. Why look to the state for an incentive?

Going back to my post above, in relation to your original post and subsequent sweeping statements perhaps you could present some hard facts/evidence to back these up?
 
It is a possibilty that a lot of people talk down what they hope to get from a course because they are afraid of failing not because they are lazy or wasters, try and think of a individual who hasnt had the cushion of a extremely high earning partner before righting off an entire secton of our community (maybe social class), however maybe 90% of the persons on this island/planet are vermin and tis a matter of culling
 
Thanks again for the posts on this issue. You have a valid point potnoodler about people talking down their interest in a course and I accept that.

I have no issue with people who are genuinely interested in doing a course or even attempting a course to see if they will like it.

I take issue with those who have absolutely no interest in doing a course and are 'pushed' into doing it in order to retain their benefits ... I wonder is the state, or the agencies that represent the state (e.g. DSW or Fas) really doing these people any service by enforcing a requirement on them that they will struggle to meet and have no interest in doing? I'm well aware that there will always be a section of the population that are unemployable ... for a variety of different reasons, I just question whether forcing them into education is the way to go.

As regards writing off a certain section of the community .... I'm not doing that. I respect the choice anyone makes when deciding to return to education ... as long as it is their choice and not one forced on them.

My issue is that although my friends' husband earns a good salary and she stays at home to mind the children, it doesn't mean that she is well off. I know of one person, whose husband is a multimillionaire (with a property portfolio as long as your arm) and a good steady income from a steady job ... and yet his wife and children are supposed to survive on the childrens' allowance that she receives ever month. ... and yes I know that this is 2006 but I'm sure there are other cases like that ... so before you right off an entire section of our community bear in mind that the cushion of a high earning partner may not be as plump as it appears outwardly!

My final point on the issue, the dept of Justice Equality and Law reform attempted to address the issue of childcare during the equal opportunities childcare programme by allocating funding in excess of 449 million euro to ensure that women in particular were given the same access to work and training by providing affordable flexible childcare. I wonder how successful this program has been ... or whether it has really had any impact on the situation at all.
 
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