The Education Awards 2026 judging panel welcomes Dr Joe Collins, Director of Further Education and Training at the Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI), whose career has been shaped by a fundamental belief that education exists to enable students to engage with their own lives and to flourish across multiple domains. His appointment to the panel brings a dimension to the judging process that goes beyond institutional metrics. Collins evaluates educational endeavour through the lens of human agency — asking not only what was achieved, but what was made possible for the people at the centre of it. That perspective is particularly pertinent to an awards programme that spans further education, professional training, and higher education in equal measure.