“Yesterday the main Irish Opposition party, Fine Gael, launched an education Green Paper, entitled The Third Way. First of all it is right to emphasise that any serious engagement with the objectives and strategic direction of higher education is always welcome, and the paper, written by Education spokesperson Brian Hayes, is a thoughtful and useful contribution to the current discussion. The main theme of the paper is that higher education needs further serious reform. Some of the specific proposals or recommendations made in the paper include: a move to greater specialisation between institutions; more focus on accountability and transparency; the need to avoid waste; more engagement with the business sector; a ‘national assessment process for graduates’ (and I confess I don’t know what that means); the development of access programmes; the establishment of an umbrella organisation for the institutes of technology; the creation of a new government department for higher and further education; lots and lots of more reviews and audits …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 19 March]