The Government says all the right things about the importance of university education, but it is not backing up policy with funds, argues Gerry Wroxin
The much-needed OECD review of university education in Ireland starts this week. It comes at a particularly opportune time because university education in Ireland is at a crossroads. University education can, depending on policy choices, be the first-class system that the Government says it is committed to or it can decline in quality and competitiveness, as it must, if Government actions on funding continue.
Our international competitiveness during the past 10 years can be put down to two factors. The first was a commitment by the Government to low corporation tax and the second, the ability of the seven universities to produce sufficient numbers of high-quality graduates.
While the Government has a clear view on the importance of low corporation tax, confusion reigns in relation to funding of universities. This confusion arises because, while the Government talks about the universities' key role in Ireland's future prosperity, it cuts funding for universities - even though Government funding for university education is already well below the levels of other EU governments.
In its submission to the OECD review group, the Department of Education and Science said: "The context for the OECD review is provided by Ireland's strategic objective of placing its education system in the top rank of the OECD in terms of both quality and levels of participation. The priority is to create a world-class research, development and innovation capacity and infrastructure in Ireland as part of the wider EU objective of becoming the world's most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy, as agreed in Lisbon (2000)."
The Government signed up to the Lisbon Strategy and has made it a priority for its EU presidency. The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, has stated that he wishes to "re-invigorate the Lisbon agenda and ensure that education gets its rightful place at the forefront".
Last year, the European Commission, in the context of the Lisbon agenda, stated: "Europe simply must have a first-class university education system with universities recognised internationally as the best in the various fields of activities and areas in which they are involved."
The Commission, in detailing competitive challenges facing Europe, drew attention to the fact that American universities are much better resourced than European universities - on average, their funding is two to five times higher per student - and warned that the under-funding of European universities jeopardised their capacity to keep and attract the best talent and their capacity to strengthen the excellence of their research and teaching.
With the momentum of stated policy at national and EU level running strongly in the direction of strengthening the funding base of universities, one would imagine that the task of the Minister and the Department of Education and Science could not be clearer.
The stark reality, however, of the treatment of our universities in recent estimates reveals the seriousness of the disconnect between stated Government policy, on one hand, and the funding priorities of the Department of Education and Science on the other.
In 2004, university current funding was effectively cut by 10 per cent, on top of a cut of 3.8 per cent in 2003. Capital funding was cut from an original provision of €51 million to €14 million during 2003. In current-expenditure terms, the Minister's response in 2004 to the Lisbon targets was to leave the universities with a shortfall of €800 per student.
Ireland now stands at approximately mid-table in comparison with how other OECD countries resource their universities. The Higher Education Authority has set a target of being in the top 10 per cent of this table if we are to regain our international competitiveness. As a result of the recent cuts, we are headed in the opposite direction.
In contrast to our Government, the British government has certainly heeded the Lisbon message and taken on the challenge.
It has acted to increase investment in English universities through direct state funding and top-up fees, the top-up fees producing some £1.3 billion per annum extra for English universities. Whatever the merits of his specific policy, Tony Blair's actions clearly signal a deep conviction that universities are critical to the future of his country, that they are under-funded and that significant extra investment is needed if the universities are to maximise their contribution to the development of a knowledge society and economy.
The decision by the British government to increase core funding and introduce top-up fees will further widen the gap between our universities and those in the economy closest to us.
The debate in Britain also underlined the difficult choice facing any government that wishes to properly fund higher education. There are only two sources of funds: the exchequer itself, through the proceeds of general taxation, and the users of the system, through fees.
The Blair government has chosen a mixture of both exchequer funding and fees. Our problems in Ireland stem directly from the fact that we have chosen, for better or for worse, not to reintroduce fees but have failed to fill the gap created by this decision with adequate Exchequer funding. Worse than this, when the Minister for Education and Science decides that his priorities lie elsewhere, the already-inadequate levels of Exchequer funding are cut further.
Being able to compete internationally and to take our place in the top 10 per cent will require hard choices by everyone. Universities will have to become more streamlined and demonstrate more clearly accountability and value for money.
We will have to work hard to ensure that the Government and the wider public see a clear return for the large investment that will be necessary.
The Government, for its part, will have to recognise that international competitiveness comes down to the quality of the people and the infrastructure. If we can't attract the brightest and the best students and teachers and provide modern laboratories and IT facilities, the decline of our universities will continue.
Unless the current policy vacuum is quickly replaced by a coherent policy and remedial action, the standard of university education in Ireland will suffer.
This will directly lead to a decline in Ireland's competitiveness, our ability to attract high value jobs, and, ultimately, our prosperity. Because the standard of university education has such wide-ranging impact, it is imperative that the Government make clear its policy on university education and make clear, through its actions, whether or not it really supports the Lisbon strategy.
Prof Gerry Wroxin is chairman of the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities and president of UCC