Ninth Level Ireland

“The release of the Leaving Cert results and CAO offers will not happen until early September – and further delay entry to college for first years. The two key events in the annual school-leavers’ calendar look set to run at least three weeks later than usual because of havoc wrought by Covid-19 …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly and Cormac McQuinn, Independent, 16 July]

“University College Dublin’s (UCD) plan for undergraduate students to attend between 40 and 60% of their classes in the Autumn Trimester may not reflect the reality for many students, according to numerous academic sources within the university. Speaking confidentially to The College Tribune, one academic said the figure for their School will likely be as much as 30% and as little as zero in-person attendance for certain stages and programmes …” (more)

[College Tribune, 16 July]

“Not all of third-level students going to university in the autumn will be able to be accommodated on campus, according to the Higher Education Minister Simon Harris …” (more)

[TheJournal.ie, 16 July]

“Funding agencies behind the radical open-access (OA) initiative Plan S have announced a policy that could make it possible for researchers to bypass journals’ restrictions on open publishing. The change could allow scientists affected by Plan S to publish in any journal they want – even in subscription titles, such as Science, that haven’t yet agreed to comply with the scheme …” (more)

[Richard Van Noorden, Nature, 16 July]

“Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the options open to third-level students whose private landlords refused to provide rent refunds to students forced to leave accommodation due to Covid-19; his plans to encourage landlords to provide refunds; and if she will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 14 July]

“Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if further consideration has been given to or the status of a financial package for the third-level institutions; and if so, if it will include increased SUSI, HEAR, DARE and Access funding to ensure expansion of access to third-level education …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 14 July]

“Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of Irish students who participated in the Erasmus+ programme in each of the years 2015 to 2019, inclusive, and to date in 2020; the countries that the students studied in; and if she will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 14 July]

“Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps she will take to improve access to higher education for members of the Traveller community …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 14 July]

“David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of institutes of technology or technological universities currently running a deficit in tabular form; the plans in place by each institute to address the deficit; and if she will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 14 July]

“Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who are ineligible for a predicted grade for the leaving certificate 2020 due to studying independently without a teacher or tutor; and the suggested recourse for these students …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 14 July]

“Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the application by Ireland to become a full member of CERN will be progressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 14 July]

“The cost of providing third level education will increase in the short term as a result of COVID-19, the Higher Education Minister has warned. However students are being assured fees will not increase over the next number of years …” (more)

[BreakingNews.ie, 16 July]

“A new database, released by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), provides a comprehensive list of all quality-assured qualifications offered in Ireland. The database – Irish Register of Qualifications (IRQ) – lists quality-assured, recognised qualifications offered by universities and institutes of technology, as well as private HE colleges, education and training boards …” (more)

[Education Matters, 16 July]

“Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD and Minister of State for Further Education Niall Collins TD have today launched the National Further Education and Training Strategy. The strategy sets out a five-year roadmap for the sector which is built around three key pillars …” (more)

[Department of Education and Skills, 16 July]

“University College Dublin (UCD) is now planning for a one metre social distancing measure to be implemented on-campus by September, according to documents seen by The College Tribune. Following adapted guidelines in the hospitality and transport sectors, it is understood that UCD expects a 1m social distancing measure as the ‘most likely scenario’ on campus …” (more)

[Conor Capplis, College Tribune, 15 July]

“Simon Harris wants to take the focus off CAO points and university degrees as the main goal of school-leavers. The Further and Higher Education Minister wants as much discussion about apprenticeships and other forms of learning and training as paths to good careers and fulfilling lives …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 16 July]

“Prof Daire Keogh today took over as president of Dublin City University (DCU), succeeding Prof Brian MacCraith whose 10-year term ended on Monday. In a press statement, Prof Keogh said: ‘It is my great honour to lead the university in the next phase of its development …'” (more)

[Rachel O’Leary, University Times, 15 July]

“Student accommodation complexes in Dublin could be temporarily converted into co-living spaces, Dublin City Council has said. The council said such a move would be ‘appropriate’ in light of universities moving much of their lectures online and therefore the number of students moving into Dublin possibly decreasing …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 15 July]

“Campus will reopen fully to all staff on August 10th, with a phased reopening beginning on July 20th, College announced this evening. In a video posted on Twitter, Head of Facilities and Services Brendan Leahy said that all staff accessing campus will need to complete a ‘COVID-19 pre-return to work questionnaire’ three days before arriving on campus …” (more)

[Cormac Watson, University Times, 15 July]