About Us

Message from the CEO

I am pleased to welcome you to CLVEC's website which gives you an account of the wide range of educational programmes and services which it provides. The website gives you an overview of the CLVEC organisation, service details and contact details. I hope that you will find this site informative while making your choice of learning opportunity. All comments and feedback are welcome as this would help us improve our services to you.

Paul Patton, Chief Executive Officer

Introduction

City of Limerick Vocational Education Committee (CLVEC) is a Public Service Education Organisation which operates under the provisions of the Vocational Education Acts 1930 - 2001 and the Education Act 1998. CLVEC provides a wide range of learning opportunities and education support services to over 10,000 learners at 7 principal centres and approximately 72 out-centres throughout Limerick City. CLVEC also provides services such as information & guidance, student grants, youth & community grants, school transport (post-primary) etc. to in excess of 15,000 customers across the City. Through its extensive partnership activity at local level, CLVEC ensures that learning is central to the Local Development Agenda.

CLVEC's Mission Statement

CLVEC recognises the ever-changing nature and needs of its local Community. It is committed to responding to these needs by continuously reviewing and adapting its policies and practices, and ensuring the delivery of quality learning programmes and support services.

CLVEC's Corporate Strategy Statement

For details of CLVEC's Corporate Strategy Statement please go to the Publications Section.

A Brief History

Technical and continuation education within the City traces its beginning back to the formation of the Limerick Athenaeum Society in 1853. The Society's aims included "the promotion of Literature, Science, Art and Music". Prior to 1930, responsibility for technical and continuation education lay with Limerick Corporation, under the terms of the Technical Instruction Act, 1889. City of Limerick VEC was formed under the terms of the Vocational Education Act 1930.

A few key milestones have shaped CLVEC's current structures:

When CLVEC first met in 1930, the Committee employed 25 staff, including 13 part-time teachers, and expended €8,550. Today, CLVEC currently has an operating budget of €30 million per annum, and employs up to 700 staff.

• Early 1850s, the Athenaeum Building was provided by a number of altruistic local gentlemen interested in Education, and acted as a centre for the dissemination of cultural and technical knowledge up to 1926.
• In 1911, the Municipal Technical Institute (MTI) in O’Connell Street was opened to offer a wide range of subjects, and was extended in 1926 to group the Commercial Department, the Building and Engineering Departments and the School of Art. It was from this nucleus that some of today’s finest educational institutions evolved e.g: Limerick Institute of Technology, Limerick College of Further Education (Limerick Senior College), Limerick Adult Education College, Limerick School of Music and Limerick College of Art & Design.
• In 1930, City of Limerick VEC was formed under the terms of the Vocational Education Act which, for the first time, allowed local committees to determine and respond to the educational needs of their area. The clear focus for VECs (under the Act), on vocational or more technical education highlighted the need which had been identified for greater relevance in curricula and an increasing focus on ‘technical’ competencies in the development of a modern state. This Act established VECs as statutory bodies, set out their functions and democratic structures and rooted these sufficiently to enable their retention even to this day.
• In 1978, St Nessan's Community College was established in the North of the City, specifically to meet the needs of the community, both in formal and informal education and recreation.
• In the early eighties, CLVEC's first Adult Education Officer was appointed to organize and manage the development and provision of adult education programmes in response to local needs. Shortly afterwards, an Adult Education Board was established as a statutory Sub-Committee of the City of Limerick VEC.
• In September 2006 Gaelcholaiste Luimnigh, a new all-Irish Post-Primary School, was estasblished under the auspices of City of Limerick VEC.