IFUT has made a comprehensive submission to the Government’s National Conversation on the Future of Education in Ireland, setting out a clear, values-driven vision for an education system that places learners, not narrow hierarchies of achievement, at its centre.
At the heart of our contribution is a challenge to the long-standing assumption that educational success is linear and uniform. Instead, we argue that Ireland must recognise, respect and support the diversity of learners’ talents, interests and ambitions by providing multiple, equally valued pathways through education and training.
IFUT’s submission highlights the damaging impact of presenting higher education as the default or “superior” destination for all learners. While universities play a vital role, they are not the right pathway for everyone — and should never be framed as such.
Further education, apprenticeships and skills-based routes are rigorous, demanding and socially valuable in their own right. A genuinely positive learning experience depends on young people receiving accurate, balanced and detailed information about all post-second-level options while still in school. Only then can students make informed choices that reflect their strengths, interests and aspirations.
Student wellbeing is presented as a core prerequisite for educational success. We warn that chronic stress, fear of failure, and inadequate access to counselling and special educational supports are fundamentally incompatible with a positive learning environment.
In our submission we link student experience directly to staff working conditions. In higher education, unacceptably high staff–student ratios and escalating workloads restrict meaningful engagement and erode teaching quality. Addressing these structural pressures is essential if Ireland is serious about improving educational outcomes.
The submission underscores that rapidly rising accommodation and living costs now represent one of the most significant barriers to participation and success in education. These pressures affect not only students, but also early-career academics who struggle to secure housing and stable employment. A positive learning experience cannot exist where students, staff and families are under constant financial strain. Education must be treated as a right in practice, not merely in principle.