New university president calls for third-level funding to be restored
Professor John Hughes, who took over as head of National University of Ireland (NUI) Maynooth on June 21, believes not enough importance has been attached to highereducation in Government spending plans.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern met with most of the seven university heads to hear about their concerns last month.
“It has to be realised that universities are a key part of the economic strategy but we’re concerned about capital funding, particularly the fact that 60% has come from non-Government sources in the last 10 years,” said Prof Hughes.
A major cause of anxiety relayed to Mr Ahern was the fact that one of the primary private sources of university funding has dried up. Atlantic Philanthropies, which invested hundreds of millions of euro in Irish universities since the early 1980s, announced a year ago it is ending its higher education programme to fund other areas of need.
“The issue of core funding has to be addressed, it has declined in real terms by 24% in the last three years. Universities are now receiving €2,000 less per student than in 1997, during a time when we have seen a 25% increase in student numbers,” Prof Hughes said.
But while he believes public investment must be increased, the NUI Maynooth president also feels that third-level institutions must foster closer links with private enterprise to raise finances.
Meanwhile, the outgoing director of Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) Pat Kelleher has called for greater co-ordination between Government agencies to maximise the benefits of third-level colleges to the economy.
“Education was once just a social ministry but it’s now both economic and social. It could be argued Government has to have more synergy on policies for higher education,” Dr Kelleher said. “I would like to see a new umbrella body. Something like a map with different countries, but with much better co-operation between them all.”
