STUDENTS at Cork Regional Technical College (RTC) are to boycott lectures until the Department of Education grants the college equal status to Waterford RTC which has been upgraded to an Institute of Technology, it was announced yesterday.
As the boycott got under way, the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) in the college, which represents more than 500 members, offered its support for the students' action, saying a special meeting of the union would be convened tomorrow when the main item on the agenda would be industrial action.
Mr Denis Polley, branch secretary of the TUI in the college, said that while he would not predict the outcome of the meeting, the RTC could face closure if his members opted for strike action. "The feeling here is running very high and staff are standing behind the students in their protest. We could be facing a complete shut-down," he added.
The Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, said last night she was concerned that the announcement about Waterford, which took into account not only the status and achievements of that college, but also the specific higher education needs in the south-east region, had been interpreted as in some way diminishing the status of Cork RTC. This was not the case.
The Government, she added, had arranged yesterday for the publication of proposals from Teastas, the national certification authority, for a national qualifications framework which would facilitate the growth and evolution of Cork RTC and the other colleges in the sector.
The proposals envisage Teastas operating as a certifying authority in its own right and as a supervisor and regulator of an overall national qualifications framework which will also include awards for other bodies, such as the Dublin Institute of Technology and regional technical colleges.
They also recommend incorporation in Teastas of the activities of the National Council of Vocational Awards and the inclusion of the certification process of other State bodies involved in education and training outside universities.
Ms Breathnach said she had also asked her Department to meet the authorities of Cork RTC and representatives of staff and students.
The Cork college, which offers some 30 third-level diplomas and certificates as well as 13 degree courses, is the largest RTC in the Republic with a full-time population of 4,300 students.
In any academic year the college also caters for some 6,000 part-time students. Its annual budget is £20 million. Since 1974, when various institutions in Cork were transferred to the Bishopstown campus, the RTC has been campaigning for institute status, but without success.
The announcement this week that the Department of Education had granted such status to Waterford RTC has incensed staff, management and students at the college, who claim that Cork will now be at a direct disadvantage.
Arrangements have been made for all members of the Oireachtas in Cork to make joint approach to the Department. The three Cork members of the Coalition, Mr Hugh Coveney, Mr Toddy O'Sullivan and Mr Bernard Allen, will meet also the Minister for Education in Dublin tomorrow.
The college registrar, Mr Brendan Goggin, said yesterday that the students' anger at the Department's decision was quite understandable.
Mr Matty O'Callaghan, president of the RTC Students' Union, said the decision to upgrade Waterford RTC meant that students completing their courses in Cork would be seen as having inferior qualifications, and employers would obviously opt for what they perceived to be the better qualification.