An insider's guide to education
- That much-awaited report by the Paris-based OECD on the Irish third-level sector has been delayed. The review which is expected to shape the future of the sector for a decade and more was expected to be completed shortly. The latest news is that first drafts will not now appear until late summer with formal publication not expected until the autumn. The Department of Education, which commissioned the report, will get an opportunity to read it before publication. This is to ensure that all material is factually correct and soundly based. But it cannot change the substance of the report - in the unlikely event of it not liking some of the proposals. The report is widely expected to propose a return of college fees and rationalisation across the third-level sector.
- Remember those headlines about "Dempsey's attack on private schools" last year. Don't hold your breath. The tentative plan which could have seen the posh schools lose the €80 million they receive in State supports (most of it for teachers' salaries) has not been activated. It is widely known that Noel Dempsey would love to clip the wings of the private school sector. But after putting out some fires recently, he is in no mood for more confrontation with a powerful, influential vested interest such as the private schools.
- Interesting address by financier Dermot Desmond, at the impressive National College of Ireland last week. Speaking about e-learning, he recalled one predication that education would be the "next big killer application for the Internet" which would dwarf even the use of e-mail. It has not quite worked out like that - but the future was still bright for e-learning, he said. It was time, he said, for Irish universities to make e-learning a strategic priority. Now is the time, he said, to establish e-learning platforms for all academic disciplines. The winning model for future learning will be based on "bricks and clicks" with a combination of online learning resources and classroom interaction.
- Sinn Féin's Sean Crowe got it right during last week's review of education spending by the Dáil committee. What was the point of some 100 questions directed at the Minister? The current format where members speak for 10 minutes and the Minister has a total of 20 minutes to respond is very unsatisfactory. Deputies race through their questions, while the Minister and his officials scramble to find the relevant briefing note. There has to be a better way of examining how more than €6 billion of public money is spent in the education sector. A simple solution? How about prior agreement on three or four key areas and a proper examination of these issues?
Q&A will return next week. You can also hear Brian Mooney's advice for exam students on The Pat Kenny Show on RTE Radio 1 every Monday.
