“Dublin City University (DCU) has said it is reversing a plan to increase the cost of on-campus accommodation from September. This follows a similar decision by Maynooth University which announced in late April it would reverse a proposed 3% rent increase and introduce a freeze …” (more)
[Sorcha Pollak, Irish Times, 3 May]
“Ireland’s seven universities are facing a major funding crisis due to the decimation of revenue streams caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to documents seen by RTÉ’s This Week, factors such as the collapse of international student fee income, rental of on-campus accommodation and commercial revenues will cost the universities €374m in the 2020 and 2021 financial years …” (more)
[Conor McMorrow, RTÉ News, 3 May]
“Irish universities could lose out on up to €200 million in international student revenue next year – a ‘massive blow’, according to one of the sector’s experts. Jim Miley, the director general of the Irish Universities Association (IUA), told RTÉ Radio 1 today that colleges are bracing for an 80% reduction in the number of first-year students coming from abroad next year …” (more)
[Donal MacNamee, University Times, 3 May]
“I’ve been studying the ‘Roadmap‘ outlining the gradual relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions that, all being well. will begin on May 18th. There are five phases of this process, each lasting three weeks. At any point the process can be stopped or reversed if the data suggest things are going wrong …” (more)
[In the Dark, 3 May]
“Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) will not hold graduation ceremonies on its campus this summer. The university emailed students at the weekend to tell them it will hold ‘virtual’ ceremonies for students due to graduate instead …” (more)
[Robbie Meredith, BBC News, 3 May]
“Each Leaving Cert student should be given the choice of sitting an exam this year or having their marks calculated on a mixture of past results and overall national averages, says an education expert. It would be kinder to students and better for their mental health if the State examinations were formally cancelled and replaced with a series of options …” (more)
[Alan O’Keeffe, Independent, 3 May]
“Recent decades have witnessed increasing interconnectedness across borders. Countries or issues which were previously unfamiliar or distant have become immediate in ways we were previously able to ignore. This includes health issues such as Ebola or Zika, migration (for example, crossing the Mediterranean or from Central America to the United States), politico-religious movements including jihadi extremism and financial crisis …” (more)
[Ellen Hazelkorn, University World News, 27 April]
“With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the world’s universities have had to close campuses and send their students home. The large majority have shifted to distance education in its various forms to allow classes to continue and students to complete their studies. Teachers and students alike have had to make considerable efforts to adjust …” (more)
[Philip G Altbach and Hans de Wit, University World News, 2 May]
“There is no shortage of commentary on the ramifications of COVID-19 for the higher education sector generally and the internationalisation agenda in particular. The opinions expressed are sharply divided: while some appeal for calm, arguing that the impact will only be temporary, others argue that the COVID-19 crisis will change higher education forever …” (more)
[Betty Leask and Wendy Green, University World News, 2 May]
