Employees from top companies in Ireland volunteer to support and mentor students in Ireland

Thursday, May 18th, 2017

Business in the Community Ireland’s Student Mentoring Programme celebrates the latest graduates of the programme.

205 targeted schools across the country have been partnered with businesses since 2000 impacting 39,864 students.

Thursday May 18^th: Today, 89 business volunteers and 89 students graduated from the Student Mentoring Programme which is run by Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI). The Student Mentoring programme, partners School Completion Programme schools, mainly DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) with a local business which then provides mentors to a number of students in the final two years of post-primary school.

Repro Free: Thursday May 18th 2017: Today, 89 business volunteers and 89 students graduated from the Student Mentoring Programme which is run by Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI). The Student Mentoring programme, partners School Completion Programme schools, mainly DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) with a local business which then provides mentors to a number of students in the final two years of post-primary school. Pictured is mentor Karina Howley, Head of Corporate Citzenship and Diversity, KPMG with Brooklyn Hyland O’Keefe, Athy College and Molly Joe Jo Brennan, , Curragh Post-Primary School. Picture Jason Clarke

The programme is aimed at encouraging students to complete their Leaving Certificate and to give insights into the working world and varying career opportunities.

Business in the Community Ireland is the network for responsible business. The Student Mentoring programme is part of its on-going work to help businesses have a more positive impact on the communities in which they do business. Since 2000, it has partnered 205 targeted schools with businesses through its range of education programmes. These include the Student Mentoring Programme and also the Skills@Work initiative. Together, through these programmes, 39 864 students in Ireland have been impacted.

Minister for Education & Skills, Mr Richard Bruton, T.D. attended today’s event in Dublin to congratulate the latest participants and commented on the success of the programme, “a key part of the Action Plan for Education, which aims to make the Irish education and training service the best in Europe, is to build stronger bridges between education and the community. Business in the Community Ireland are doing exactly that. Better engagement between DEIS schools and business can have a very positive impact.”

Previous graduates from the mentoring programme spoke at today’s event and explained the impact of having a mentor on their lives and career paths.

Germaine Noonan, Education Programme Manager, BITCI commented: “The quality of a young person’s school experience impacts greatly on their sense of wellbeing and on their future prospects.  Many doors can be opened to people who complete their Leaving Certificate and this can have a profound effect on other siblings within a family unit and also on the entire family’s outlook. Business support in this area plays a unique role as they can give a different view of the working world and the options available to all young students.”

For the 2015/2017 programme, employees from the following businesses participated as mentors: Diageo, DHL, KPMG, Allianz Worldwide Care, Horse Racing Ireland, Cornmarket, Siemens and Yahoo.

The Schools involved were Warrenmount SS, D7; CBS Westland Row, D2; St. Dominic’s SS, Ballyfermot; Curragh PP,  St. Paul’s CBS, Brunswick St.; Fingal CC, Trinity Comprehensive Ballymun, St. John’s De La Salle, Mount Carmel SS and Ard Scoil la Salle, Raheny.

Ends

For further information, please contact

Moira Horgan
Head of Marketing
086 172 2105 / 01 874 3812
mhorgan@bitc.ie