OECD review ‘a threat to progress’

Niall Murray, Education Correspondent

Dr Brendan Murphy, director of Cork Institute of Technology, said the report of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) would also have serious consequences for the nation’s economy if its recommendations are implemented as Government policy.

Although it urged the reversal of funding shortages, in line with the lobbying of higher education institutions, the OECD review also suggested wider differentiation between the university sector and the institutes of technology (ITs).

“The OECD proposes to prevent the ITs from producing doctoral degree students and competing in the main research funding programmes, something we have been very successful at,” Dr Murphy told a conferring ceremony yesterday.

“However, if this recommendation is implemented, it will have a detrimental effect on regional development and the Government’s spatial strategy,” he said.

Dr Murphy highlighted the importance of research in any higher education institution as it informs undergraduate teaching and is vital in offering continuing professional development to staff of high-tech industries.

Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) director Professor Kieran Byrne made similar observations about the OECD report’s findings on the IT sector last week.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin has promised that she will be addressing the recommendations of the report shortly.