Awards presented to Speedpak staff

FIFTEEN training staff at Speedpak in north Dublin recently received a Level 4 Certificate in General Learning – equivalent to the Leaving Cert.

The award is part of the Workplace Accreditation Model (WAM) training programme, developed by Speedpak in conjunction with Colaiste Dhulaigh College of Further Education in Coolock. 

It delivers accreditation equivalent to the Leaving Cert and is aimed at early school leavers.

A total of 40 people have benefited from the programme to date.  Speedpak chairperson Jim Lillis congratulated the awardees and noted that 12 of the 15 participants received Distinctions, with an overall grade of between 80 and 100 per cent.  The awards coincided with the launch of a report, ‘Evaluating Speedpak’s Workplace Learning Programme’ by Dr Peter Tiernan of Dublin City University. Dr Tiernan’s report found that Speedpak’s approach of fusing work and learning provides a sustainable model for the up-skilling of the long-term unemployed. Over 90 per cent of participants had left school without a Leaving Certificate. 

The findings concur with those of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (2012), which predicts that those without a Leaving Certificate will be unable to find suitable employment by 2020.

Speedpak is a social enterprise aiming to improve the employability of long-term unemployed people on Dublin’s Northside by providing real work experience, accredited training, mentoring, tailored interventions and supports in a commercial business environment.