Students deserve more than a hollowed out college experience

The minister's request for third-level institutions to compress their lecturing days indicates a minister who is completely out of touch with how student life works, writes Mary McAuliffe

College experience is not simply about lectures or tutorials, although these are very important, it is also about meaningful learning and engagement beyond the classroom. File picture: Denis Minihane

The news broke in recent days that the minister for higher education, James Lawless, intends to ask third-level institutions to compress their lecturing days, to reduce the time that students spend commuting to their colleges. 

This, on the face of it, would indicate concern with the many hours that third-level students spend on buses, trains and other public transport rather than in their lecture halls.