CIT online courses on hold amid row

A number of online courses at Cork Institute of Technology, which were due to start on Monday, look unlikely to go ahead on that day due to industrial action.

The Teaching Union of Ireland has said that its members will refuse to engage in either the delivery or development of the modules. Since March, the union and company have been at odds over the courses, with lecturers unhappy at inadequate training of staff and a failure to provide the extra time needed for teaching and interacting with students remotely online.

Last April, almost two thirds of more than 550 TUI members at CIT took part in a ballot on the issue. That resulted in a 90% vote in favour of industrial action. Negotiations continued but when there appeared to be no progress in sight the union announced industrial action to begin on September 1.