Fetac Course Complaint

beaconcourt

hi.....i recently finished a fetac course,and although i passed the course having paid €800.00 i was not happy with the tutoring and service i received..i found it very unprofessional and came away none the wiser..i have emailed company but still waiting on outcome..
is there an ombudsman or somewhere i can make complaint to
what else can i do to speed things along and resolve this issue

implausible

Did you complain during the course? If it was so bad, why did you bother completing it? Afaik, there is no educational ombudsman.

Your first step would be to make a complaint to the course co-ordinator and company you did it with. If you got no satisfaction there, I'd imagine that making a complaint to FETAC would be the way to go. If it's a financial issue, the small claims court, though I'd imagine it's be very hard to prove that you didn't get your money's worth when you have completed the course and have a cert to prove it.

beaconcourt

it was only a four day course and i finished the course because they wanted payment before course began..the company was based in Wexford ..but the course was held in Dublin.. ...my issue is that the course was not worth the money..venue changed 3 times..tutor was not qualified to teach he skipped over a lot of course material that was laid out by the company but he thought we would not benefit so he skipped them..he was late every morning complaining that his newborn kept him awake and without the proper equipment for tasks at hand and he had to go back for...my opinion is that he did not want to be there..

looksee

The OP raises a good point. Its all very well being given a certificate - by an organisation that has taken money from you - but if you were doing the course to actually improve your knowledge of a subject, rather than just fulfill a requirement of an employer, then you need to feel that your education has been advanced.

I know you can technically get in the required number of hours in a 4 day course, but I cannot honestly see that it can be providing the education that a more full time course would provide.

OP, I think you should, as implausible says, contact the provider, but you should copy your complaint to Fetac and the Dept of Education. The D of E do not have any huge interest in Further Education, but they should know what is happening. It would probably be a good idea to send a copy of your course notes, indicating which areas you covered and which were skipped.

brasher

Is the company linked to a college or Vec? If so report it to them. Otherwise write to fetac. Enough complaints and they will be audited.
800 seems expensive for 4 days. Was it a single module? I would recommend doing it through night classes in a Vec. It takes longer but you use the equipment they use every day and you get an experienced teacher.
Plus it costs roughly 200-300 per module!

Squatman

price was probably typical.
However, there is usually a form to fill in at the end, which is reviewed by FETAC. Also, to be a FETAC certified course, FETAC layout the topics to be discussed, along with the exam at the end.

I did a fetac course recently, and it wasnt worth the paper it was written on.

SMED - one of the Questions at the end was who invented SMED, and who was the engineer @ toyota when smed was invented.?

idk how that displays a knowledge of SMED

MinkeyMonkey

I realize this is an old post but I have a similar problem with an online course provider<snip>. I could be completely wrong but I'd imagine it's the same provider mentioned by the original poster. This course costs €995 and I am only finished one module out of 8 but am finding it to be very disorganized and would prefer my money back than complete the course. Beaconcourt did you have any joy with reporting your problem?

Am I allowed to mention the name of the course provider??

spurious

MinkeyMonkey wrote: »

Am I allowed to mention the name of the course provider??

No, please don't. I suggest you follow the suggestions made by implausible and looksee earlier in the thread. Beaconcourt has never posted since this thread.

MinkeyMonkey

Thanks Spurious, I've raised the issue with my course tutor so far, and she's to get back to me. I'll allow her another few days before I go to the college itself with an official complaint.

One d

Hi I'm new to dis I am currently doing my carers fetac 5 modules and my tutor has been bullying me right through 2 modules iv tried to hand in my work to her both assignments she would not take them she has constantly put me down in front other students she has told students wen I wasn't present in class that other people must b doing my work that how am I capable she has continued to bully me iv only one wk left and I'm done she will not let me sit my practical exam this is a very well know company the woman who is bullying me is my tutor who runs this place I'm at a loss here I don't no what to do my job can't help me iv payed for these courses my self 500 for one module 180 for the other I need help. Everyone in my class said the same that she will not stop bullying me.how can I win every ave she is stopping me from doing my exams and I ran from my class room out crying last wk she screamed the head off me this woman runs the company. What are my options here plz?

Squatman

cant advise you at all, other than why the hell would you let anyone talk to you like that. Have a bit of self confidence and confront her. Present her with data that show persistent bullying, and let her know you are going to report her to Fetac, unless reparations are made. If she loses her affiliation with Fetac, she will be joining the dole que fairly sooon after.

One d

Hi thanks for getting bk to me I had pulled her aside once before and spi thought she would stop she hasn't last night she done it again to me and I told her I report her she said she doesn't care my word against hers and who would they believe that's her words girls in my course said they would right statements but when push comes to shove will they really I am a 33 yr old woman and never have I experienced this in my life I have reported it to my job they tried ringing her she denied it all to them blamed me for it all I was also told it's very hard to get tru to fetac oh and here's another one she also very well in with fetac examiner ? So I just can't win I'm at a loss now

katydid

One d wrote: »

Hi thanks for getting bk to me I had pulled her aside once before and spi thought she would stop she hasn't last night she done it again to me and I told her I report her she said she doesn't care my word against hers and who would they believe that's her words girls in my course said they would right statements but when push comes to shove will they really I am a 33 yr old woman and never have I experienced this in my life I have reported it to my job they tried ringing her she denied it all to them blamed me for it all I was also told it's very hard to get tru to fetac oh and here's another one she also very well in with fetac examiner ? So I just can't win I'm at a loss now

There's more to this story than it seems on face value. I'm a bit confused. How can your tutor be "very well in with the Fetac examiner"? She IS the Fetac examiner. She marks your work.

You didn't explain why your tutor wouldn't take your work. Was it past the submission date? Was it not presented properly, without a brief, or not in a proper format? Someone doesn't just refuse out of the blue for no reason.

spurious

One_d please do not use text speak on the forum. If events have unfolded as you describe, you need to get written statements to that fact from your class mates and quickly before you finish the course.

It sounds to me like we are missing something in the story.

One d

No everything was presented in the folders right she kept coming up with reasons as to why she wouldn't take it she would not answer a question I would ask I handed in my stuff last Wednesday she refused them then she told me she's not taking it off me but yet she took everyone else's when I told her at end she wasn't bullying me anymore that I'm reporting her that I'm entitled to do my exams she then told me I can do my exam next time she's running cours I said when she said maybe a year and then she said that's if am running course but she also told us all that night in class if we don't have modules done by October we have to repeat all eight again so if she's telling me year then she knows I'll have to repeat them all again wen I told her I'm reporting her for bullying she said to me is that right well wen u are doing your test eventually when I feel like allowing you them PN I'll examine you but yet no one else in the class got examined by her she is not fetac examiner she sits down with the fetac examiner goes through the work well that's what she has told us and that she is very good friends with examiner . I'm finished course this Wednesday I have been on internet trying to find out I complain to fetac but nothing's coming up I'm trying to find a way to complain I even asked my job they said they don't no how I do it that's why I'm on here trying as a last hope

katydid

One d wrote: »

No everything was presented in the folders right she kept coming up with reasons as to why she wouldn't take it she would not answer a question I would ask I handed in my stuff last Wednesday she refused them then she told me she's not taking it off me but yet she took everyone else's when I told her at end she wasn't bullying me anymore that I'm reporting her that I'm entitled to do my exams she then told me I can do my exam next time she's running cours I said when she said maybe a year and then she said that's if am running course but she also told us all that night in class if we don't have modules done by October we have to repeat all eight again so if she's telling me year then she knows I'll have to repeat them all again wen I told her I'm reporting her for bullying she said to me is that right well wen u are doing your test eventually when I feel like allowing you them PN I'll examine you but yet no one else in the class got examined by her she is not fetac examiner she sits down with the fetac examiner goes through the work well that's what she has told us and that she is very good friends with examiner . I'm finished course this Wednesday I have been on internet trying to find out I complain to fetac but nothing's coming up I'm trying to find a way to complain I even asked my job they said they don't no how I do it that's why I'm on here trying as a last hope

I find this story hard to fathom, to be honest. If it is as you say, you need to complain this person to FETAC straight away. But there's something off here; how can your tutor not be the person who is assessing your work? That is how FETAC works.

uck51js9zml2yt

Complaints can be made to QQI who are the amalgamation of FETAC/HETAC.


http://www.qqi.ie/Pages/Complaints-of-Service-Procedure.aspx

kazmc81

I too am in the same boat. Currently doing a QQI level 5 full-time. One of our modules has been a nightmare. We started with one tutor, approx. two months in to the course we got someone else teaching that class. We have had no notes, no structure to the teaching, examples of situations using suicide, derogatory comments towards students etc. We have made an informal complaint, this was given to the tutor and our next class hew spent it picking on certain students. There has also been a formal complaint made - this resulted in a new tutor being brought in to teach some topics of the module so we would finish on time. There has been a lack of communication between these tutors resulting in nobody knowing who was doing up assignments. We are now in our last week and exams are starting next week. We still haven't finished two topics of the course and still have two assignments to do. He wants us to do them while we are sitting our exams. We have no idea how we have done in our previous assignments. I have no idea what to revise as we got no notes - he seems to be a teacher that likes the sound of his own voice and doesn't cater for the students who learn by doing. I am a mature student and need full marks in order to hopefully proceed on to 3rd level but i feel that this tutor and the college have let myself and many others in the class down. Some students had to go and get grinds, I was not able to as i work as well as raising my son on my own but then we have paid good money for this course so we shouldn't have to.

Thanks for posting the link for complaints as I feel i have no other choice. I would not like this happening again to someone next year.

katydid

kazmc81 wrote: »

I too am in the same boat. Currently doing a QQI level 5 full-time. One of our modules has been a nightmare. We started with one tutor, approx. two months in to the course we got someone else teaching that class. We have had no notes, no structure to the teaching, examples of situations using suicide, derogatory comments towards students etc. We have made an informal complaint, this was given to the tutor and our next class hew spent it picking on certain students. There has also been a formal complaint made - this resulted in a new tutor being brought in to teach some topics of the module so we would finish on time. There has been a lack of communication between these tutors resulting in nobody knowing who was doing up assignments. We are now in our last week and exams are starting next week. We still haven't finished two topics of the course and still have two assignments to do. He wants us to do them while we are sitting our exams. We have no idea how we have done in our previous assignments. I have no idea what to revise as we got no notes - he seems to be a teacher that likes the sound of his own voice and doesn't cater for the students who learn by doing. I am a mature student and need full marks in order to hopefully proceed on to 3rd level but i feel that this tutor and the college have let myself and many others in the class down. Some students had to go and get grinds, I was not able to as i work as well as raising my son on my own but then we have paid good money for this course so we shouldn't have to.

Thanks for posting the link for complaints as I feel i have no other choice. I would not like this happening again to someone next year.

That is appalling. You have to get together as a class and formally complain to the college and, if you get no satisfaction, to FETAC. This kind of carry on lets us all down, students and teachers. We had a situation in our college once with a substitute teacher, and the students rightly created a stink. In fairness to the teacher in that case, they were thrown in at the deep end halfway through the year, and had never taught that module before, but that wasn't the students' fault. The head of that department linked the teacher up with another teacher teaching the module and they worked together; the situation was rectified.

For you, it's very late in the year, and it sounds like this last teacher was not really open to being helped or guided. Very soon you will all be scattered and it'll be harder to get things done. I know it's a stressful time right now, but you need to do something or it'll be too late. It might not do a lot of good for you personally, but the college needs to know about this.