Bursary Fund
Supporting Access to Professional Endorsed Community Work Education and Training
Reinforcing the community work/community development workforce, including through increasing the number of partitioners with access to professional qualifications, is a key concern for the All Ireland Endorsement Body for Community Work Education and Training (AIEB). Two issues of very immediate concern in this regard emerged from the AIEB Education and Training Needs Assessment that was undertaken in a number of areas:
- firstly, professional qualifications for practitioners with degrees but not a professional community work qualification
- secondly, routes to professional qualifications for those involved in community work in various ways.
We are therefore glad to let you know about the AIEB Bursary Fund supported by DRCD that will be available to support people with degrees currently employed in community work and associated roles to pursue endorsed professional qualifications in 2023 and 2024.
AIEB will host an online information session about the bursary fund on Wednesday August 9th from 1pm – 2pm. Register here
It is anticipated that the bursaries will be substantial but will not cover the full costs. We know that the short lead in time may be a difficulty, but until a suitable recognised programme became available we were unable to progress the application process.
As of now, the recently modified postgraduate in-service Masters in Community and Youth Work (MCYW) from the Department of Applied Social Studies at Maynooth University is the only postgraduate part-time programme in Ireland with professional endorsement by AIEB. Its new mode of delivery makes it potentially suitable for bursary applicants – who will need to secure a place on the programme in the first instance.
Information about the programme can be found by following this link – MSocSc CYW part-time in-service 2023.pdf – and further details on the programme are available from the Department of Applied Social Studies in Maynooth University.
We are also currently developing and seeking additional support for an initiative for people employed or involved in community work and associated work but who do not have a degree and/or professional qualifications to commence in 2023 or early 2024. The programme(s) supported through this fund will be those recognized by AIEB and can provide participants with a certified qualification that ensures the foundations essential for further professional studies. We will keep you informed as the initiative develops.
We look forward to your interest in this initiative and welcome you to raise awareness amongst your community work colleagues.
