Action needed to safeguard education

Doing nothing about funding would prove disastrous, writes Education Correspondent Niall Murray

THE number of full-time students in higher education has more than quadrupled since 1980, going from about 40,000 to 170,500.

However, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) points out that the amount of funding colleges receive per student has fallen 19% in the past three years, from almost €10,000 to €8,000, even though the average contribution from students has almost doubled to €1,100.