Blog

The Minister for Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation & Science, Simon Harris TD,, launched the Asia Matters Report, Redefining & Reprioritising the Asia Ireland Higher Education Partnership in a Post Covid-19 World.

Tom Boland chaired the Asia Matters expert group. The report makes a contribution to the development of the next Irish national strategy for international education.

Ellen Hazelkorn participated in the Global Table on the “Economy, Employment and Education in the Digital Age“, organised as part of the policy forum informing the next G20 meeting. She proposed 6 positions for actions.

Recent decades have seen significant policy success on increasing the numbers of young people attending and successfully completing higher education. But what about the other 50% – have we given as much attention to (young) people who do not attend higher education? The report of the UK Independent Commission on the College of the Future made 11 recommendations. This is a timely report. A key message is centred around creating a more diverse and seamless post-secondary education system, embracing both vocational and higher education, in recognition that people’s life circumstances change.

Experience, even the worst experience, teaches us – so what are the lessons to be learned by higher education from the coronavirus? For example, the move to innovative forms of learning and classroom-based assessments came as a shock to higher education institutions – but now they should be incorporated into the norm, writes Tom Boland. What other lessons - and opportunities - should we carry forward?

BH Associates met with Mr. Simon Harris, T.D., Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to discuss the Technological University of Southeast Ireland.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD has today (28 July 2020) announced the appointment of an independent person to accelerate plans for a technological university in the South East.

Mr. Tom Boland, a former Chief Executive of the Higher Education Authority (HEA), will be the new independent Programme Executive Director for the TUSEI consortium comprising the Carlow and Waterford Institutes of Technology.

A survey of senior leaders in Irish higher education shows considerable support for key national objectives for higher education, but issues of accountability, regulation, institutional governance, and management are all viewed negatively by respondents. The survey and this article were completed before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has presented a whole new set of issues for governments and institutional leaders. Yet all these issues remain relevant.

Having a minister should ensure that higher education and research get a better hearing at Cabinet and a share of public resources proportionate to its importance. But if the creation of the department is to be really impactful it will require a response from the sector. Pleas for more funding, less regulation and more respect for autonomy are likely to get a better hearing from the new minister if combined with a demonstrated willingness among the institutions to see themselves as part of the solution to the fundamental challenges they now face. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option in the post-pandemic world.

Senior academics in Ireland feel their institutions would be in stronger financial positions if the Government would work harder to facilitate the recruitment of lucrative international students. However, a majority are also wary of becoming too dependent on international students for income – a problem which has been brutally exposed by the travel limitations brought in to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

BH Associates congratulates the Munster Technological University consortium in achieving technological university status. BH Associates has enormously enjoyed chairing the Project Leadership Group since last September. Congratulations.

Creating a well-function higher education system is one of the six stated high-level objectives of the National Strategy published nine years ago. The intention was, and remains, the creation of a coherent system of interlocking higher education institutions, each playing to their strengths and combining to address national economic and social priorities. In support of this objective, the Strategy recommended a process of “strategic dialogue”. The key elements are the Minister for Education and Skills, sets out national objectives for higher education and each institution through a process of dialogue with the HEA enters into a performance agreement which contains the objectives they will address and the performance metrics to be applied, with potential funding implications in the event of a failure to meet them.

You are invited to join us on 11 June 2020 to discuss “systemness”, the discussion will be led by Professor Nancy Zimpher, Chancellor Emeritus of The State University of New York (SUNY).

The publication in July 2019 by the Minister for Education and Skills of proposals for legislation to reform the powers and functions of the Higher Education Authority brought the regulation of the system front and centre in discussions on higher education. At government and the wider political level, there appears to be a growing sense of frustration with the lack and/or weakness of powers of intervention in the sector to address perceived mismanagement or misgovernance.  Attached is a briefing note on the regulatory landscape in Ireland and the proposed legislation, and Peter Noonan’s talk on the regulation of Australian higher education, and reflections on Ireland.

Survey shows the Irish higher education sector with many strengths but scepticism about institutional capacity and government ambition.

Earlier this year 343 people in senior positions in Irish higher education and stakeholder groups were invited by Prospectus and BH Associates to complete a survey on the sector.  

Today we are publishing the results of our survey. 

Vocational Education and Training (VET) can play a much bigger role in Smart Specialisation Strategies than has so far been considered. This is because VET encompasses skill development as well as innovation diffusion and applied research – which together can have a more direct impact on sustainable economic growth, especially of less developed regions. VET also contributes to addressing the demographic challenges which Europe faces, responding to the needs for re-skilling and up-skilling through nonformal training and at different levels of formal VET.

The publication in July by the Minister for Education and Skills of proposals for legislation to reform the powers and functions of the Higher Education Authority has brought the regulation of our higher education system front and centre in discussions on higher education. At government and the wider political level, there appears to be a growing sense of frustration with the lack and/or weakness of powers of intervention in the sector to address perceived mismanagement or mis-governance. 

In the institutions, on the other hand, there is a growing concern that their autonomy to manage their internal, institutional affairs is increasingly being encroached on by a political system wedded to command and control. 

This seminar will discuss the issues, placing them within a broader and international context. 

Is it time we changed the conversation about higher education funding – a conversation that to date has been a dialogue of the deaf?

We need a new paradigm, elements of which could include the creation of a fully integrated further and higher education system with a comprehensive credit transfer system and clear pathways from programmes at different levels and between different institutions. This could serve to cool the demand for higher education and lead to students choosing programmes more compatible with their interests and aptitudes.

The newly formed Independent Commission on the College of the Future will work with partners to answer the question – what does the college of the future look like? The formation of the Commission is especially timely. There is increasing attention internationally on optimising the role of further and vocational education within the broader post-secondary education landscape – in response to changing employment opportunities and to provide greater choice for learners of all ages.  

The Commission will meet five times throughout the year and will be supported by an expert panel. The Commission will hold a range of roundtable and workshop events with a broad range of stakeholders across the UK throughout the year and will hold a number of public events. A final report will be published in Spring 2020.

Ellen Hazelkorn, Managing Partner, BH Associates, has been appointed to the Commission.