Webinar hosted by the RPL Practitioner Network on Friday 22 May 2026
The webinar explored the important role that Recognition of Prior Learning can play in supporting migrant learners to have their existing knowledge, skills and competencies identified, valued and recognised. For many migrant learners, valuable learning has been gained through work, life experience, community engagement, volunteering, professional practice, and previous education and training, including learning and experience acquired outside Ireland.
The purpose of the webinar was to consider how RPL can help create more inclusive pathways to further learning, employment, participation and opportunity. It also provided space to reflect on how practitioners, institutions and organisations can better support migrant learners in making visible the learning they already hold. It generated thoughtful discussion on the value of RPL in supporting migrant learners, recognising existing skills and experience, and creating more inclusive routes to learning, employment and participation. The learner contributions were a particularly powerful reminder of the importance of making prior learning visible, valued and usable.
The session was aimed at those with an interest in RPL, access, inclusion, lifelong learning, migrant learner supports and community engagement. It was attended by 97 participants, bringing together colleagues and stakeholders from across education, training, higher education, community organisations, policy and learner support contexts.
The webinar featured contributions from policy, practice and learner perspectives. Christine McCabe, Co-Convenor of the RPL Practitioner Network, opened the session and set the scene. Ada Sophia Hahn, Policy Officer with European Migration Network Ireland / ESRI, discussed barriers to skilled employment among third-country nationals, including skills mismatch and possible solutions across Ireland and the EU.
A central focus of the event was hearing directly from learners about their experiences of RPL. Learners Matoko Nsimba and Eunice Aduaka, both currently employed in the healthcare sector, shared their experiences in conversation with Caroline Goode, RPL Support Officer with Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board. Vinicius Murta, a graduate of Munster Technological University and currently employed as a CAD-BIM Designer, spoke with Dr Phil O’Leary, RPL Mentor with MTU Extended Campus. Ewa Seinko, currently employed as a Lead Educator with Longford Women’s Link, shared her experience in conversation with Marissa Hebron, Tutor with Longford Women’s Link.
The webinar included an update from Andrina Wafer, Head of International Mobility and Prior Learning with Quality and Qualifications Ireland, whose contribution, ‘Mind the Gap – Recognition and RPL: Opportunities and Assets for Fair Recognition of All Our Learning in a Mobile World’, explored recognition, mobility and fair recognition of learning in a global context. The session concluded with a Q&A facilitated by Dr Ciara Staunton, Director of the RPL in Higher Education Project.
The RPL Practitioner Network would like to sincerely thank all guest speakers, learner contributors, facilitators and attendees for their time, insights and engagement.
Recordings from the webinar have been divided into individual speaker sections and are available at this playlist.
