The higher education sector is one of the best-performing sectors in Ireland, but it comes as a surprise to no-one that it’s in a perilous position. Trinity’s Provost, and Chair of the Irish Universities Association (IUA), Patrick Prendergast, opened the association’s recent symposium on the performance and sustainability of higher education in Ireland. The event was essentially a reaction to what seems to be fact: that current levels of funding to third-level education is inadequate if Ireland wants to have a world-class education system.
That Trinity receives 40 per cent less funding than the universities in the top 100 is something we cannot ignore if we don’t want to continue to slip in the rankings, or continue to lose staff and student services (and the most recent set of rankings published shows that all of Ireland’s universities are heading downwards). It seems that the limit has been reached as to what Irish universities can achieve without a change in its funding model. That Prendergast, when running for Provost, suggested he may consider leaving the IUA, now chairs the organisation can be seen as a sign that the funding issue is too large to ignore, and that debate on the issue simply has to be started.
At the moment, our higher education system is still highly respected globally. It’s a fact that, if this system fails, so too will many sectors of our economy – but this fact is generally ignored.
The presence of government officials at the symposium is a positive sign that they are recognising the link between the strength of the higher education sector and the strength of the economy as a whole. Yet Prendergast noted that, in terms of funding, Irish universities simply “can’t compete”. This is a frightening prospect – that without further investment from higher education, there seems to be no where to go but down.
That the debate is restarting, and that the Provost reckons “we don’t need to fix the system” are welcome developments. The Provost’s comments last Monday at the question and answer session were also welcome, when he said it wasn’t his purpose “to ensure Trinity is privatised”, but that his purpose and duty “is to ensure that we’re funded – that we can continue to deliver the quality of education people expect.”
We can only hope that this development into examining the importance of funding higher education isn’t forgotten in tomorrow’s budget.
Also in Editorial Today: Trinity’s Contingent at the USI Rally Wasn’t Remarkable, But it is a Reboot That’s Worth Commending
Written by the Editorial Board of The University Times
