Students must be more actively involved in learning

IN many ways, today’s report from the Higher Education Authority showing higher dropout rates in various types of college, courses and student categories tells us very little that isn’t already known.

One would expect that those with lower grades, particularly in English or maths, may struggle to get through third level, and more so on courses with high mathematical or communication content.

Second-level principals were quick to point out in August that the third-level points system is the tail wagging the dog of our second-level system. At the Oireachtas Education Committee last week, Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland assistant general secretary Moire Leyden said the second-level curriculum is in a straitjacket because the system requires everybody to work towards the Leaving Certificate exam.

HEA chief executive Tom Boland points out that the report identifies areas of vulnerability, “none more so than in the case of young men who take information technology/engineering programmes in institutes of technology”.

It is quite true that the high dropout rates among particular categories of students, and for certain courses, are a cause of concern. But the biggest concern should be that 15% of all students drop out before second year of college.

So much focus is placed on schools preparing students for exams and having them pick the college course they wish to pursue, one would think there could be no question of an undergraduate finding themselves unable or not suited to the programme when they begin studying at third level.

UCC president Dr Michael Murphy told the Irish Examiner last year that questions need to be asked about Government ambitions for third-level participation. Should we really just be squeezing in as many undergraduates as possible, regardless of their ability to meet the standards, particularly on the ‘knowledge-economy’ courses that so much focus is placed on in recent years?

The question merits exploration: is the Government’s ambition to have 72% of school-leavers attending third level realistic, if one-in-six across the board, and at least one in five in a number of disciplines, never make it beyond first year?

Questions should also be asked about a Government policy that limits places in further education courses which may be more appropriate to the abilities of some of those unable to complete higher education. But third-level administrators need to divert resources into supports that enable students to maximise their ability to progress and graduate.

Rather than allowing for more lecturers, maybe the pastoral and other aids — which the Union of Students in Ireland tells us are vital to helping undergraduates get through college and avoid mental health problems — need to be expanded, if we are to improve retention rates in colleges.

At a conference in Dublin today, international expert on third-level retention, Dr Vincent Tinto of Syracuse University in New York, will share his philosophy that students are more likely to remain in colleges with academic, social and personal supports.

Because students who are more likely to get actively involved in learning are more likely to stay.