First ever survery of Irish Higher Education sector
The Higher Education sector is facing significant global challenges in the absence of a clear national strategy, according to a survey launched by Prospectus, a leading independent strategy consultancy.
Pictured at the launch of the survey on Higher Education in Ireland:
John Hegarty, Provost, Trinity College Dublin;
David Duffy, Executive Chairman, Prospectus;
Michael Kelly, Chairman, Higher Education Authority;
Richard Thorn, President of Institutes of Technology.
The survey targeted 175 key opinion leaders, including heads of universities and institutes of technologies, senior academics, research centres and Government departments.
The findings showed that close to nine in ten respondents (86%) believed the absence of a national strategy for higher education was hindering the advancement of the sector; 84 percent of respondents felt that the sector was underfunded; more than eight in ten (84%) agreed that structural reform of higher education institutions was both necessary and beneficial.
Despite the advent of free fees, two thirds of respondents felt that third level education was not accessible to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, nor was it meeting the needs of Ireland's multi-cultural population.
Six in ten (64%) felt that international rankings were highly relevant to the position and reputations of Irish Institutions, but less than half (47%) felt that these rankings were a valid measure of quality. 60% felt that the research carried out in Irish institutions was not yet of a quality that compares well with the world’s leading knowledge economies.
The survey - the first ever of the Irish Higher Education sector - was launched on 3 December in the Royal College of Physicians Dublin by Michael Kelly, Chairman of the Higher Education Authority, and David W Duffy, Executive Chairman, Prospectus.
“This survey, the first of its kind, bringing together the views of a wide range of higher education stakeholders, demonstrates how much has been achieved in Irish higher education and research; confirms the central role that higher education and research will have in future social and economic development; and emphasises how essential it is that we adequately resource and proactively develop the system,” Michael Kelly said.
“The Prospectus Survey reveals that the higher education sector is clearly divided on many important topics and would strongly benefit from a more unified policy framework and a clear strategy," David Duffy said.
“The research indicates that this is a sector that is fully aware of the fast-changing environment in which it operates, but which needs support and freedom to respond effectively to changing requirements. There is strong recognition amongst respondents that higher education is global in its challenges, standards, benchmarks and reach, and Irish institutions appear to recognise that they will have to respond to this.
“The future development of the sector will depend on a number of things:
- developing and empowering its leadership;
- providing appropriate reward and recognition for academics & researchers;
- investment of additional funding that could bring Ireland into line with the world’s leading countries for 3rd and 4th level education.”
The report incorporates a number of key recommendations to guide the future development of the higher education sector which include:
- Develop a clear roadmap for Higher Education that sets Ireland apart internationally and contributes to Ireland’s economic, social and cultural goals.
- Establish a Higher Education Leadership & Management Institute to build the leadership and management capacities of the higher educational institutes further, to enable the institutes to succeed globally.
- Adopt a radical and innovative approach as to how third and fourth level institutions should be funded in the future.
- Develop a more co-ordinated approach as to how the higher education institutions and enterprise (MNC / SME) can work together to develop / exploit our emerging world class research base and the role that they can play in our transition to a knowledge economy.
- Rethink how Ireland markets, sells and supports its higher educational services to capitalise on the opportunities in the global educational services market, based on a reputation for quality teaching, leading pedagogical approaches and outstanding pastoral care.
- Establish a working National Think Tank to bring all higher education stakeholders together in a real way.
The full survey is available online at www.prospectus.ie
5 Responses to “First ever survery of Irish Higher Education sector”
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December 11th, 2007 at 10:20 am
yes i totally agree on your ideas, ireland does need a new unified approach! but what the teachers are lacking today is the ” how of teaching”. The points system must be abolished and eradicated. it serves little purpose in the future day to day life of our students! it in fact hinders their general knowlege and puts them in a zone and reality of no self belief. currently i am doing a debate on ireland’s educational system proving my point that it is clearly out of date. Universities now have to deal with the problems facing the students’ future lives and try save them from a single “on what i NEED to know basis”. To all of you out there i propose that we need to help and not hinder the education of our students’ lives. And to achieve this, today’s education must be changed. teachers must be taught the how of teaching. a new system must be born. the general knowledge of our students must improve. why??? Ireland is changing….times are changing…..the wrold is changing….but our education system is not changing! and if a change does not happen in the next 5 years. we as students will not be able to cope with the problems ireland is facing now. and certainly not be able to cope with ireland’s increasing problems in the future. this will affect every single person in the country resulting in a deteriorating educated country… we as a nation will lose out. thanks for reading
December 13th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Curiously, if you look at the countries with the best 3rd and 4th level educations they tend to be ones that use the traditional university structures - the countries that adopt the clichéd “radical and innovative” approaches tend to be fall behind. The US 3rd level sector, for example, is world-renowned as being of generally low quality, although it also has a reputation for being innovative.
We need to be careful with this notion that change is good - particularly when it comes to the “how” of teaching (as mentioned by phily2003). My experience has been that the ideas on how to teach are ill-researched and generally only apply in rather idealised settings (small class size, well-motivated students …).
Having said all that, the structures in the university sector in Ireland are poor and do need to be changed - one obvious step is that all the universities in Dublin should be merged to one, with an emphasis on reducing administrative costs. This would lead to more “critical mass” research teams in a wide variety of areas and much lower overall costs for running the university as a whole.
December 13th, 2007 at 9:25 am
“The US 3rd level sector, for example, is world-renowned as being of generally low qualit” ? Can you support that?
January 4th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I’m not so sure that US 3rd level is of generally low quality. What proof do you offer to support this notion?
There are areas that could be better such as funding education for adults and non traditional learners. Our costs are extremely high in the US too causing high debt on the part of graduates.
This debt could be a stifling matter to the economy as recent grads with jobs are not likely to buy homes and other higher end purchases due to paying back student loans.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
[…] is clear that there is a long-standing need for such an approach [see also here, here (sub req’d)]. To take only one example, according to the Prospectus survey on Irish higher […]