Minister Halligan welcomes new measure from SOLAS as response to ongoing Covid-19 crisis

Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development John Halligan T.D. has welcomed the announcement from SOLAS, the Further Education and Training Authority, that it is making its eCollege online learning service available free of charge as a support to learners who have been impacted by the current containment measures.

eCollege is the national online learning service for the Further Education and Training sector, funded by SOLAS. eCollege provides online courses including computer programming, data science, office productivity, and web and graphic design.

Minister Halligan said: “This is a most welcome development. The Covid-19 outbreak is a rapidly evolving situation that has resulted in many people losing their jobs or working reduced hours.

“The opening up of eCollege provides a great learning opportunity for individuals so that they can upskill or reskill and be ready for when the current restrictions come to an end and businesses are operating normally.”

Commenting on the announcement, Andrew Brownlee, CEO, SOLAS, said: “As we navigate our way through this national and global crisis, we have decided to open up our eCollege offering to the public, free of charge. This measure is designed to benefit those already doing a FET course who would like to augment their learning and those who have recently become unemployed or had their hours reduced and who wish to upskill and reskill in digital skills.

“eCollege is online 24/7, so people can study at a time that suits them. While these are extremely difficult times we are living in, we hope that by making eCollege available we will help to support those whose livelihoods have been impacted by Covid-19 to re-enter or upskill in the labour market.”

While courses are tutor supported, independent study is required to reach certification standards.

To create a fetchcourses account and apply for eCollege courses candidates will need an active email address and have details of their PPSN and postal address to hand.

Further information on eCollege can be found here: https://www.ecollege.ie/