“Barring orders are to be removed from the Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) indicative list of documents used to confirm whether parents of a student are divorced or separated …” (more)
[TheJournal.ie, 5 December]
“Click here to download the full 2019 Feeder School tables. Pupils emerging from private schools are keeping a strong grip on the most sought-after third-level courses, despite millions being spent on narrowing the class gap in education …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Peter McGuire and Éanna Ó Caollaí, Irish Times, 3 December]
“Trinity is a global university, we’ve been told countless times over the past few years, and goes to great lengths to cultivate its own image on the international stage. On Twitter, Provost Patrick Prendergast posts photos of himself every month or two, shaking hands with some official in a far-flung university in Asia or Europe …” (more)
[University Times, 1 December]
“Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the fact that recent HEA research indicates that students from better-off backgrounds dominate university courses with high points entry requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 28 November]
“Roddy Doyle is the latest high profile person to suggest that the Leaving Cert (LC) is not fit for purpose. Although best known as a writer, Doyle is a former teacher in a disadvantaged school so his opinion should be treated with a bit more respect than that of, say, David McWilliams, who has dismissed the Leaving Cert as little more than a ‘pub quiz’. Nonetheless, I think his comments are useless, in the sense that they don’t contribute anything useful to the discussion …” (more)
[An Irish Blog about Education, 29 November]
“College spent over €1.4m on recruitment of non-EU undergraduate and postgraduate students during the 2018/19 financial year, starting October 1 2018 to July 31 of this year. The figures were obtained by a request under the Freedom of Information Act …” (more)
[Finn Purdy, Trinity News, 28 November]
“Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD. today, on World Access to Higher Education Day, launched the Action Plan to Promote Traveller Participation in Higher Education. The Minister was joined at the launch, held in TU Dublin, by several third level students and recent graduates from the Traveller community, who told their own stories of studying in universities and colleges around Ireland, and gave insights into the supports that are most useful to students …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 26 November]
“A private school has sparked controversy by introducing a new programme that it says allows students to cover large sections of the Leaving Cert curriculum over three years. The policy of the Department of Education is that the Leaving Certificate programme should be taught over a maximum of two years …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 25 November]
“John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the timeframe in which students with disabilities that are wheelchair users, visually impaired and hearing impaired could complete their degree course will be extended by at least one extra year without incurring extra costs or fees; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 21 November]
“UCC’s Students’ Union (UCCSU) has successfully reversed an incremental €200 increase in the student capitation fee, reducing the cost to €170 for all incoming students ahead of the 2020/21 academic year. The increase was announced in June 2019, inciting protests from the Students’ Union, who staged a sit-in demonstration in the following days …” (more)
[Samantha Calthrop, University Express, 19 November]
“There was a 17% increase in the number of students with disabilities attending higher education from 2017 to 2018, new research has found. Some 14,720 students with disabilities enrolled in third-level courses for the 2017/2018 academic year, representing 6.2% of the total student population, according to research conducted by the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD) …” (more)
[Danielle Varley, University Times, 18 November]
“The Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD today highlighted the importance of College Awareness Week, a nationwide campaign aimed at raising awareness relating to the benefits of going to college. The Minister also took the opportunity to emphasise to prospective students the many other pathways available to them through apprenticeships, traineeships and Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 18 November]
“Galway West TD Eamon O Cuiv has slammed the Government over what he calls a lack of coordination when dealing with third level students living in Rural Ireland. Students who live within 45 kilometres of their institution receive a much lower maintenance grant then those living further away and get accommodation assistance …” (more)
[Galway Bay FM, 13 November]
“My child eventually started college – three weeks late – after being upgraded in the Leaving Cert and securing his first-choice course. What’s wrong with the correction process that leads to children having to appeal to secure grades they are entitled to? …” (more)
[Brian Mooney, Irish Times, 12 November]
“Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is satisfied that the continued activities of institutes (details supplied) do not negatively impact on the activities of universities here; the actions he has taken to ensure same; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 5 November]
“Modular billing, the system created to allow students to pay to repeat individual modules – abandoned by the College after historic student protests against the supplemental fees meant to pay for its introduction – could be re-introduced by next year, according to a top Trinity official. The system would replace Trinity’s current system of off-books assessment …” (more)
[Emer Moreau, University Times, 5 November]
“Mentorship is key to helping Traveller students progress to third level, according to a member of the Travelling community who has become the first woman in her family to graduate. ‘Why are you here?’: CIT graduate says mentorship is key to Traveller students. Breda Hogan was among the students conferred at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) yesterday where she received her level eight degree in business administration …” (more)
[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 1 November]
“Just 61 students in higher education in 2017 were members of the Travelling community, a new report from the Department of Education has found. The report examines a wide range of areas across primary, post-primary and third-level education in Ireland …” (more)
[Emer Moreau, University Times, 31 October]
“Department publishes facts and figures on all aspects of the education system. The Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD today (Thursday 31 October) announced a special new report has been published providing a snapshot of our education system. The Education Indicators for Ireland report for the first time gives a comprehensive overview of the scale of school and third level education and training …” (more, download)
[Department of Education and Skills, 31 October]
“Sir, – The recent correspondence from Dr Michael O’Connell (Letters, October 24th) claiming ‘genes’ are what matter most in determining educational attainment is not supported by empirical research internationally. First, there is a vast body of well-documented peer-reviewed scientific evidence that educational attainment in schools and colleges is strongly influenced by wealth, both directly through investment in quality school and college resources, including good teaching, and indirectly, through private family investment in extracurricular activities and ancillary educational goods and services …” (more)
[Kathleen Lynch, Irish Times, 30 October]
