"Students are already officially accountable in a variety of ways, now it is time for academics to follow suit"

Colm Jordan, president of the Union of Students of Ireland, wantsassurance on quality

This is an age of accountability, not just in education, but in every sector of life. While it is reasonable to state that there has always been an element of quality control in higher education, the need to employ explicit measures to monitor the quality of education is obvious. Transparency is something demanded in all aspects of life. Why should education be any different?

USI regards accountability in higher education to be of paramount importance. Developed systems of quality assurance have not been fully introduced in this State. However, there are pilot programmes in TCD and the DIT, which appear to have worked well.

The emphasis placed in recent legislation on quality control indicates that this will become a significant aspect of the work of our higher-education institutions. The truth is that academic quality control and quality audit procedures have not yet been applied fully and systematically to higher education here. USI firmly believes that these need to be introduced as a matter of urgency to ensure that our high standard of education remains just that.

USI welcomes the proposals for quality-assurance systems in every college and would advocate that any committee on the matter should be fully representative of the college, including academics, administrators and students.

Academics may express concern about these new procedures interfering with staff autonomy or individuality in teaching. We believe that such negative perceptions of quality assurance should not be ignored and that each quality committee must work sensitively to dispel these concerns and gain the trust of students and staff alike.

However, the 1999 Qualifications Act explicitly states that each course should be evaluated by the learner, and this should therefore be a cornerstone of the new approach.

The report Academic Assurance in Irish Higher Education (2000) by Duff, Hegarty and Hussy stated: "It is essential that views of students on the overall course, its content, organisation and presentation, are obtained."

Accountability is the key word here, but it needs to work both ways. Students are already officially accountable in a variety of ways, now it is time for academics and the rest of college staff to follow suit.