STUDENTS on Munster Technological University’s (MTU) social care courses say they are at risk of graduating without officially recognised qualifications, and they feel demoralised and “betrayed” at what they call a lack of communication from the university.

Under new rules, the Social Care Workers Register will open in November and will introduce regulation to that profession for the first time in Ireland.

The register will list approved qualifications, and if a qualification is not listed, it cannot be used to apply for entry to the Social Care Workers Register.

MTU’s social care courses are not currently approved by Coru, the regulator for health and social care professionals.

MTU Cork only applied for accreditation for its social care courses in December 2022, having earlier in the year withdrawn an initial application, despite the approval process for social care courses having been introduced in 2017.

Without recognition of MTU’s social care programmes by Coru, graduates of those courses would not in the future be able to become registered social care workers in Ireland.

It is understood that MTU Cork currently has around 200 social care students.

A spokesperson for Coru has confirmed to The Echo that MTU Cork applied for Coru approval of its social care courses in December 2022, while MTU Kerry applied in March 2022.

Coru has said that its approval process is “dependent on each education provider demonstrating how their programme meets the minimum standards set by Coru. Where this is clearly evidenced, Coru’s programme approval process typically takes 12 to 18 months to complete”.

Given that 12- to 18-month process, if MTU Cork’s courses are approved by Coru, that approval would not likely be granted before December 2023 and might potentially not occur until June 2024.

“The approval process remains ongoing with the Social Care Workers Board planning on publishing its first approved qualification by-law in the coming months,” said Coru.

During a two-year transition period until November 2025, Coru will offer an alternative option for applicants “who have been practising in the profession for a minimum of two years out of the previous five on the date the register opens; [or if they] hold the relevant qualifications”.

This means that until such time as MTU’s social care courses are recognised by Coru, its graduates have to work for two years in the field, under what is called a ‘grandparenting’ process.

With this process closing in November 2025, third-year students graduating from MTU this year would have to secure work in the social care field to accrue two years’ worth of experience by November 2025.

However, if MTU is not Coru-approved by October 2024, students who graduate next year would presumably not have time to work for two years in the field before the November 2025 deadline.

“Coru must ensure that every education course delivers upon its minimum standards. It is essential to ensure the protection of the public that every registered social care worker has received an appropriate education,” said Coru’s spokesperson.

“Upon the conclusion of the grandparenting period [November 2025] any individual who does not hold a Coru- approved qualification will not be eligible to apply to the register and use the title social care worker in Ireland until such time as their programme is approved or they obtain an alternative approved qualification.”

One second-year social care work student who is due to graduate in 2024 said that if MTU is not Coru-approved by then, she would have to emigrate if she wants to work as a social care worker.

“We won’t be able to work in the sector in Ireland by law,” she said.

“If they only applied in December, and it takes 18 months to get approval, that’s basically two years. Sure, we’ll be long gone in two years.”

The second-year student said the first time she and her fellow students had heard they would need to work two years in the field before her qualification would be recognised was in October 2022, when a member of staff told her class that MTU had withdrawn its earlier application to Coru “six months prior” and was working on a new application.

“She wasn’t taking any questions, and then she left. I think the only reason the college told us was because the Kerry [campus] students started to question things, so then that made us question things.

“The only reason she came around and spoke to us was to stop the rumours, was what she said.”

The student said morale is very low among students on the course.

“We have big lectures and the whole year is supposed to be in together, you’d be lucky to get 20 people to attend out of 50, because people don’t want to be there because what’s the point?”

Another student, who is due to graduate this year, also said her class had only been told in October 2022 that they would need to work two years in the field as there was an issue with accreditation for MTU Cork.

“We had already started third year, so we couldn’t even leave or go swapping courses, it was too late,” she said.

“We were very betrayed because [the staff] knew this information in February and didn’t tell us ’til October. Like, even if they had told us prior to summer, we would have had options.”

On the Central Applications Office website, prospective students of the MTU Cork Social Care BA course are currently told: “This programme has made an application for approval by Coru. There is no guarantee that the programme will be approved.”

In the ‘Question Time’ section, it asks: “Am I fully qualified to work as a Social Care Worker after successfully completing the three years of [the course]?”

The reply reads: “The regulatory landscape for the profession is changing. We recommend that you keep informed of the work of the Social Care Workers Registration Board [Coru]. Coru’s work includes the approval of education courses. At the time of preparing this prospectus, MTU is preparing its programme in consideration of Coru’s programme approval process.”

Last month, The Echo put a number of questions to MTU. We asked:

The Social Care Workers Registration Board was appointed by the minister for health in 2015. Consultation on the requirements for education and training programmes was conducted in 2016, with the standards for education and training programmes formally launched in May 2017.

• Why has it taken MTU over five years to apply for Coru approval?
• When were MTU’s students told they need to work two years in the field after graduation for their qualification to be recognised?
• With the grandparenting process closing in November 2025, how are 2024’s graduates expected by MTU to gain two years’ employment in the field before the process closes? The same question applies to students due to graduate in 2025, and subsequent years, if MTU Cork does not secure Coru approval.

On February 16, MTU replied: “We will revert at the earliest possible opportunity.”

No further response has been received.