Fixing Ireland's 3rd level crisis.

A bit of a long one coming up after a substantial absence.

The answer to Ireland’s third level crisis lies in partnership

I have, for almost three years now, publicly opposed the introduction of fees based on the democratic mandate of students. There is a logical dissonance in arguing for higher quality for free; it doesn’t add up.

The reasoning behind questioning funding is even more pertinent today than it was when I first did so in 2009 through preferendum. State income to the third level sector has been slashed, student numbers are increasing, the HEA pension bill is set to balloon, and pay is protected under the Croke Park Agreement; it doesn’t compute.

I don’t believe in the principle of “free fees” as constituted in Ireland. The simple fact is that anyone would be a fool to; the 'Student Contribution' is set to rise to €3,000 by 2015, with no extra benefit to the third level sector, its students, the deficits and ultimately with no benefit to education.

Over the past three years I have seen standards and services deteriorate, funding collapse and student numbers increase. The Hunt Report Strategy to 2030 cites Policy Options for New Student Contribution (2009) in relation to student fees:

The best model [proposed in the report] is a combination of means-tested grants and student fees, allied to a system of deferred-repayment, income-contingent student loans. This model ensures that at any given time, the amount that a borrower has to repay is proportionate to his or her disposable income. This is achieved by varying the term of the loan – but without excessive penalty to borrowers who take longer to repay. It is proposed that as part of the system, individual students should have the option to pay all or part of the contribution up front.

Academic programmes face the chop (not that all sectoral realignment is a bad thing), research output is under severe pressure. All of this is leading to Ireland’s institutions sliding down the international rankings in terms of academic standards faster than a firefighter down a pole.

Support services keep students in education; they are not just extras that can be discarded, however anything that isn’t teaching related falls ready for the next chop of the axe, with libraries, IT facilities and tutorials in the mix with counselling, learner support units and student advisory.

It is imperative that we explore how students, alumni and state in partnership with industry and philanthropy can successfully fund our institutions into the future. There must now be a move towards endowments for current spending rather than primarily one-off capital spending in the philanthropic area. Most importantly, there must be no cost disincentive or barrier at point of entry, as stated in the Hunt Report.

The key learning from our student forums is that students are willing to pay for higher quality and more supports, but only on the basis that the same commitment, heretofore lacking, comes from government; this will make the bitter pill of fees easier to swallow and appeal to those philanthropists who want to make a difference, not simply make-up a shortfall. The state as co-ordinator, must lead, and must show there is a plan to attract the brightest from overseas and keep Ireland’s brightest here.