New national apprenticeship in professional hairdressing in ireland underway
Published
15th Aug 2018
by charlottegw
A new National Apprenticeship in Professional Hairdressing is currently being developed by a hairdressing consortium steering group (CSG) in Ireland.
Through engagement and liaison with industry and education experts nationwide, the CSG is designing course content that will deliver a nationally-recognised standard.
The call for an apprenticeship in hairdressing was led by industry in 2018. Industry representative bodies approached education providers requesting their collaboration in developing a nationally-recognised flagship standard for the industry. The development of an apprenticeship in professional hairdressing was sanctioned by the Minister for Education and Skills in December 2018. Since then industry representatives from the Hairdressing Council of Ireland, Image Skillnet, the Irish Hairdressers Federation and Synergy Hair Group have been working together with Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board to develop a programme of excellence that will meet the future needs of the industry.
The three-year apprenticeship will be a formally recognised statutory apprenticeship mapped at Level 6 on the National Framework of Qualifications. The apprenticeship is scheduled for rollout in 2019. Commenting on the initiative, Suzanne Kiely, national apprenticeship programme
co-ordinator, said: “The time has come to recognise and validate the amazing talent and expertise of this industry. A nationally-recognised flagship standard is the least this industry deserves.”
A hairdressing consortium steering group (CSG) comprising of industry representatives and education providers is working in partnership to develop the apprenticeship programme. The consortium is made up of: the Hairdressing Council of Ireland as industry lead, Image Skillnet, the Irish Hairdressers Federation, Synergy Hair Group, Peter Mark, Wayne Lloyd and Catherine Cusack who represent industry interests.
Commenting on the new apprenticeship’s development, Bridget Haren, President of the Hairdressing Council of Ireland, said: “This is going to be fantastic for hairdressing in Ireland. It’s the first step towards regulating our industry. It will most certainly create opportunities and attract young people into careers in hairdressing. It will also provide them with recognised qualifications, which they can use to further progress their career or indeed have the paperwork to travel internationally.”
Limerick and Clare education and training, as the lead education provider, is responsible for co-ordinating the development, implementation and quality assurance of the programme. The apprenticeship programme also has the support and collaboration of all other 15 education and training providers nationally. This potentially makes the hairdressing apprenticeship the largest apprenticeship ever developed across the island of Ireland.
As part of the development stage of the Apprenticeship in Professional Hairdressing there have been a series of national consultation workshops around the country, titled Shaping the Future. These workshops were designed as an opportunity for hairdressing experts to come together, meet the development team, and assist in the programme development. There was an overwhelming response from both industry and education experts to attend the workshops and lend their voice to ‘shaping the future’ of their industry. Future workshops and briefings will be published on the new hairdressing apprenticeship website at hairdressingapprenticeship.ie.