Powers but no extra cash for new education agency

A range of powers is to be given to an education agency without guarantee of extra resources, despite major internal staffing difficulties.

Education Minister Richard Bruton will today outline proposed legislation covering the regulation of third-level and private international colleges.

Among them will be the creation of an offence of facilitating academic cheating by providing or advertising services such as writing college assignments, providing exam answers, or sitting an exam for a student.

The plan is being presented by Mr Bruton as getting tough on academic cheating, but his department is unclear on the extent to which such “essay mill” services are providing assignments, dissertations, and theses to order.

The offences would be prosecutable by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), the statutory body formed by the amalgamation in 2012 of four other bodies concerned with accrediting further education and third-level programmes. It has been hampered by internal difficulties, largely due to the diverse functions of the previous organisations and their staffs.

A consultants’ review for the Department of Education reported late last year that it has had a difficult industrial relations environment, and experienced a high degree of change, and some difficulties caused by changes to law. But significant challenges were also created by recruitment restrictions due to the economic climate.

Clarion Consulting was paid almost €25,000 by the department for the report, which said that the various structural, resourcing problems, leadership, and cultural issues were “created over a number of years and they will not be solved in a short timeframe.”

Asked by the Irish Examiner whether QQI is suitably positioned to implement the new powers and what additional resources would be provided to do so, the Department of Education said the issue of resources is being considered as part of the response to the Clarion report.

“The department, in consultation with QQI’s executive and board, is currently working towards implementation of the recommendations contained in the organisational review,” said a department spokesperson.

Ms Bruton is publishing heads of the planned Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Amendment) Bill, but it will be at least 2018 before it becomes law.

The bill would give QQI power to provide an international education mark to give confidence to international students coming to private English language, business, and others colleges here that their provider is reputable.

A further element is to set up a Learner Protection Fund, into which such colleges would pay to create an “academic bonding” system. The idea is that students would be able to complete courses if their provider ceases operating.

An existing system is believed not to have been adequate after the closure of several such colleges in recent years left hundreds of students out of pocket and unable to get their qualifications.

Mr Bruton’s bill would strengthen QQI’s powers to check the bona fides and ability of colleges to provide courses, before approving them. The body would also be required and authorised to share information with other State bodies in the regulation of the sector.

Institutes of technology would also become designated awarding bodies.