Union fears ITs will lose focus on apprenticeships

INSTITUTES of technology which have applied for university status should not lose focus on apprenticeships and lower-level qualifications, lecturers have warned.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland is concerned following the most recent application from Cork Institute of Technology this month, as the Government continues to consider similar calls from Dublin Institute of Technology and Waterford Institute of Technology.

The union has more than 4,000 members teaching at the country’s 14 ITs, which have about 53,000 students, and the issue has been the subject of debate at its annual congress this week.

While the union does not have an official stand on whether ITs should become universities, its members fear such a move could lead to the emphasis shifting towards the increased numbers of postgraduate students they would attract.

Because this could see a greater proportion of funding directed to the top-level qualifications, the belief is that their-long established apprenticeship and technological courses would inevitably suffer and possibly be lost.

Union general secretary Peter MacMenamin said a major strength of the ITs was they have always provided courses at certificate and diploma level and have an expertise in apprenticeship education.

“When there was a downturn for apprentices in the past, several ITs decided to get rid of the dirty overalls and bring in nice clean professional courses. But when the boom came, there was a scramble to get the apprentices back in,” he said.

“Any further development of courses at degree, postgraduate and doctoral level would be welcome, but we would oppose any withdrawal by an institute from the broad range of course levels currently provided.”

The Government is still considering a recently published expert report on WIT’s 2006 university application.

DIT applied again last year to be made a university, following a failed bid in the mid-1990s while CIT stressed in its application to Education Minister Mary Hanafin in recent weeks that it would avoid the type of mission drift feared by TUI.