GMIT has been awarded €2.2m from the Higher Education Authority to deliver 14 new Springboard training courses from next September.
Springboard is an initiative that offers free or subsidised upskilling courses for people who have been unemployed or or are seeking to improve their prospects in modern industries.
The programme focuses on four key areas: digital skills, soft skills, management and leadership and the workplace of the future.
GMIT has roughly 500 places open for 14 courses across its Galway and Mayo campuses, with the Galway courses focusing on “the skills of the future”.
In Galway the School of Science & Computing offers the online L8 Higher Diploma in Science (Data Analytics) and the classroom-based L8 Quality for the Medical Device Industry.
The School of Business offers three online courses, the L8 Certificate in Business Analytics, L8 Certificate in Business of Blockchain, and L7 Certificate in Family Enterprise;
And the Galway International Hotel School offers two classroom-based programmes, the L7 Bachelor of Arts in Culinary Arts and L6 Certificate in Culinary Skills.
“Our team of academics have responded to the needs of industry in designing a menu of innovative programmes,” said Dónal Loftus, Director of Graduate and Professional Development at GMIT Galway.
He added that GMIT’s “collaboration with local, national and international industries ensures that our offerings provide our students with the skills they need to succeed in the workplace.”
Seven more courses are being offered at the IT’s Mayo campus.
An open evening about all Springboard courses will take place in GMIT’s Dublin Road (Galway) campus on Wednesday, June 19 from 6pm to 8.30pm.
In addition, the Mayo campus will also host a separate open evening in Castlebar on Thursday September 12, 5pm to 8pm.
Springboard courses are free to almost everyone in employment or unemployment, and many in education.
The only people who pay are those in a Level 7 to 9 higher education course, with 90% of the cost subsidised by the state.
Nationally over 9,000 free or subsidised places are available on 285 upskilling and reskilling courses, with and emphasis on the digital economy.
According to the government 90 percent of people who were on the Live Register before taking a Springboard course are now in employment.
