Universities’ standing - We must get off slippery slope quickly

LAST December an international survey reported a startling decline in the level of academic achievement by Irish teenagers.

An OECD/Pisa study recorded a dramatic fall in literacy levels amongst young adults, and found that 15-year-olds were at best average or below standard in maths and/or science. That wake-up call was amplified by yesterday’s publication of new ratings for the world’s universities which showed that nearly all of our colleges — University College Cork (UCC) being an exception — lost ground to international rivals.

This is the second time in less than a year we have been told that elements of our education system are in decline. For a society that has staked its future on creating a knowledge-based economy, attracting foreign investment and increasing exports of services, these are sobering judgements.

They will resonate through the international investment community and must influence those considering moving a business here. As investment in Asian universities is increased and their ratings improve, we run the risk of falling too far behind in the brutal scramble for investment. Plainly put, these ratings will cost us invaluable jobs no matter how low the minimum wage.

It is not as if we do not regard education as highly as we might — the great clamour surrounding leaving certificate results just weeks ago shows we do — and it’s not as if we are unaware of the problems.

University leaders say that funding must be increased if a steady decline is to be averted and when figures are compared internationally, it is very difficult to argue with that position.

These issues have been debated ad nauseam but we still prevaricate about how best to fund a third-level education system aimed at producing graduates with the skills to fulfil their and our ambitions. All the while our ratings fall and our credibility is squandered. We cannot afford this and a resolution must be found quickly, even if it means accepting something less than palatable in the short to medium term.

Former education minister Batt O’Keeffe concluded that third level fees should be reintroduced in tandem with a loan scheme similar to Australia’s, but his partners in government — the Greens — vetoed those proposals without suggesting a viable alternative.

Education Minister Ruairí Quinn seems to be moving towards the reintroduction of fees but without a loan scheme which he has deemed unworkable.

It would be tragic and profoundly stupid if these proposals provoked another great festival of stonewalling without reaching a conclusion during the life of this Government, thereby allowing the next minister defer any decision for another few years until he or she had completed their own research.

We, especially our children, cannot afford that kind of delay and we must move quickly to recover lost ground for our universities, second level schools and primary schools. This must be an absolute priority and pursued ruthlessly because we have been told — at least twice — that we are on a slippery slope that leads in only one direction.