Irish Federation of University Teachers » University fees

IFUT’s initial commentary on the National Strategy for Irish Higher Education (”The Hunt Report”)

admin — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 18:03:38 +0000

IFUT welcomes the unequivocal call in the National Strategy for Irish Higher Education (“The Hunt Report”) for a substantial increase in funding for Higher Education.

IFUT is also very pleased to see throughout the Report repeated acknowledgements of the current quality and high international reputation of Irish higher education. According to IFUT General Secretary, Mike Jennings, “the statement in the Report that Irish higher education enjoys first place internationally for graduate employability and is placed second of 28 countries surveyed for graduate quality is particularly noteworthy”.

The Report says quite starkly that “the current system is delivering above-average outcomes at below-average funding levels”. The Report’s commitment to Quality Assurance is also welcome.

However, despite these welcome statements and the inclusion of a number of very welcome recommendations, IFUT’s overall assessment of the Report is that it is disappointing, often confused and, in general, a missed opportunity. The Report lacks a sense of authority and credibility. It often reads like a document compiled by people who do not understand the Irish higher education system and how it works.

The Report is uninspiring. It singularly lacks any specific indicators of how any of its recommendations might be implemented against the opposition of vested interests. With a change of government in prospect, it seems that Colin Hunt and his team may well have created one of our all-time most expensive dust accumulators.

The IFUT Media Release is available in full here.

IFUT reacts to HEA statement on overseas students

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:59:03 +0000

The announcement by the HEA that there are now students from 139 countries studying here only serves to illustrate the diversity of educational, social and cultural challenges faced by third-level institutions and staff in assisting these students to adapt and gain from their time here, Mike Jennings, IFUT General Secretary, has said.

“It is immensely frustrating that neither the HEA nor the Minister for Education seem to have any idea of the extra time and commitment needed from higher education staff to try to assist overseas students and to ensure they get the full benefit from their time in Ireland.

“The fact that Irish universities, with 50% pro-rata funding compared to their counterparts in the UK, can attract such a number and diversity of overseas students is remarkable. However, the question must be asked: ‘How are these fully fee paying students not to be short-changed by a higher education system starved of funds, staff and resources?’”, Mr Jennings said.

The IFUT Press Release is available in full here.

Proposed Reintroduction of Higher Education Fees

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:14:53 +0000

In a letter to the editor of The Irish Times and published on 4 September 2009, IFUT General Secretary, Mike Jennings, writes:

“We impose financial charges (for example for refuse collection, water supply, etc) as an instrument to discourage usage. Yet we are expected to suspend our disbelief when the Minister for Education says that re-imposing fees will not discourage participation in Higher Education.”

The General Secretary’s letter is available in full here.

University teachers respond to Fine Gael’s university fees proposal

admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:23:41 +0000

The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) welcomes the efforts by Fine Gael to find a means of dealing with the chronic underfunding of our higher education system without doing the serious damage to participation rates which the reintroduction of undergraduate fees would inevitably cause.

“Whilst Fine Gael’s proposals would require some further discussion and fine tuning, we greatly welcome the fact that they see the huge barriers which could be caused by imposing fees of thousands of euro per annum on students”, said IFUT General Secretary, Mike Jennings.

The IFUT Press Release is available in full here. The Fine Gael proposals are available here.