education Intellectual capital: Can the government afford to cut fees, increase grants and provide hundreds of millions more for third-level funding?The government admitted last week that the third-level sector was underfunded to the tune of €307 million a year, and promised to rectify this over the next three budgets. But where will the money come from?
education Class struggle: the mounting pressures faced by Ireland’s teachersLong and demanding hours, low salaries and a rising cost of living are just some of the many factors forcing an increasing number of teachers to leave this country for better conditions. What can be done to stop the squeeze?
Expected move by Harris on third-level funding likely to spark division between FF and FGMinister for Higher Education is bringing a long-awaited policy document to cabinet next week, but he faces a challenge to convince Fianna Fáil that cutting student fees is the best course of action
Demand for third-level courses ‘not aligned to skills needs’Minister for Further Education Simon Harris said courses in areas such as ICT, construction and health would be prioritised
University of Limerick got legal threat over report into €8m site purchaseUniversity says it is unable to publish KPMG report into acquisition of Dunnes site until threat is ‘reviewed’
Universities say state funding a ‘fraction’ of what’s required to tackle investment gapUniversities association says government’s funding plans have done little to address the underlying core funding deficit in the sector
UCD seeks fundraising agent to tap donations from Chinese investorsCollege aims to seek support from Chinese-dominated IIP visa programme, after professors warned of political interference on campus
Call for school inspectors to go back into classroomsAs staff shortages bite due to Covid-19 and self-isolation, there are calls for Norma Foley, the Minister for Education, to send inspectors in as substitute teachers
Analysis: Schools will re-open, the next challenge is to keep them openGovernment faced pushback from unions but opposition parties agreed that term should start tomorrow as planned
State withheld capital grant from Limerick university amid concerns over €8m site purchaseDepartment paused payment of €2.5m grant to UL after it was heavily scrutinised for the acquisition of a former Dunnes Stores site in 2019
Academics say UCD’s next president should review its relationship with ChinaConcerns have been raised that the Confucius Institute has been allowed to teach a course on Chinese politics on UCD's campus
Study app helps Leaving Cert students improve their performanceEkker looks at a student’s working habits and helps them to use their time more efficiently
‘Trust and safety’ course aims to support content moderatorsGriffith College and Kinzen, the digital anti-disinformation company, have partnered to create a diploma course for this ‘under-resourced’ sector
Leaving Cert ordinary-level Irish exam is ‘not fit for purpose’, says politicianFF backbencher and ex-Irish teacher Pádraig O’Sullivan says the exam is far too difficult for most students and that many are leaving pages blank
Day care deferral option now available to all teens with disabilities Success of pilot project to encourage 1,700 school leavers with disabilities to continue education and training has led to it being made permanent
Solas chief aims to change the culture around apprenticeshipsAndrew Brownlee of Solas, the state training agency, wants to boost the number of Leaving Cert students opting to take up apprenticeships as training courses and apprenticeships will appear for the first time on the CAO website from November
State supports on way for non-traditional apprenticesEmployer complaints have spurred the government to expand off-the-job training wages to apprentices in fields such as auctioneering, accounting and insurance
Plans for National Children’s Science Centre to be cancelledThe €37 million project unlikely now to go ahead due to other pressing demands on spending
John Walsh: Universities will fail without the reintroduction of feesIt’s painfully obvious that if the current funding model doesn’t change, then third-level institutions will remain starved of investment
Government abandoned cutting PUP to ‘dual support’ students The pandemic unemployment payment as well as the Student Universal Support Ireland grant was being paid to 7,000 students studying remotely, but the government backed off cutting their PUP for fear of a backlash
