Survey reveals poor public awareness of institutes of technology

THE general public is largely unaware of the important work or even the existence of the country’s 14 institutes of technology (ITs), a survey has revealed.

The study for a body representing management and unions in the sector found barely one-third of people were aware of the institutes when asked spontaneously, although further prompting achieved a positive response from 82%.

The findings emerged in the same week that legislation governing future funding and governance of the ITs was published by Education Minister Mary Hanafin.