Experts to review how the arts have added to international reputation

The contribution of Irish writers, artists, and musicians to our international reputation is to be considered in a review of creative arts and media education in Dublin.

Experts from Austria, Canada, Netherlands, and the UK have started the review of higher education courses at 10 State-funded colleges in Dublin.

Greater collaboration and joint offering of courses by colleges is likely to be encouraged in the report, due early next year.

The Higher Education Authority (HEA), which commissioned the review on foot of a request from Education Minister Ruairi Quinn, says it is not about closing institutions or reducing student numbers.

A similar review of teac-her training provision published in September recommended that six specialist education centres be formed by the merging of over 40 courses at 19 colleges.

More than 6,000 students take part in creative arts and related academic courses at the colleges. About half are on uniquely practice or performance-based programmes, most of which are run at Dublin Institute of Technology; the Institute of Art, Design, && Technology in Dún Laoghaire; and the National College of Art & Design.

HEA chief executive Tom Boland said the aim was to identify how arts and media education could best be provided and promoted to an international audience.

“The arts are an area where Ireland has enorm-ous strengths and these are recognised internationally. We already have a range of top-class institutions in these fields and our objective is to see if, through greater co-ordination and collaboration, those strengths can be further built upon.”

As well as the 10 in Dublin, there are at least 10 more state-funded art, design, and media education institutions in Ireland.

The HEA said many of these have long-established and internationally ren-owned reputations.

But, it said, last year’s national strategy for higher education in Ireland identified a need for globally oriented higher education institutions with better coherence and stronger operational efficiency in a time of increased demand and falling resources.