Quinn faces choice between more fees or lower standards [IrishTimes]
- Published: 06 October 2011
Ruairí Quinn does not want to be remembered as the Minister who brought back college fees – but he may have no option, writes SEÁN FLYNN , Education Editor
OF ALL the issues on his desk, Ruairí Quinn views higher education funding as the most problematic.
That’s not surprising. While the Minister for Education has been lauded for many of his reform initiatives in the past six months, his performance in relation to college funding has been much less sure-footed.
It does not help that the Minister has a troubled history on the issue.
Last March, Quinn opposed the €500 increase in the student contribution charge from €1,500 to €2,000.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Call to prioritise languages in schools [IrishTimes]
- Published: 06 October 2011
THE ABSENCE of a coherent language-learning strategy in primary and secondary schools is damaging the State’s competitiveness internationally, according to a new report.
The National Languages Strategy document, compiled by the Royal Irish Academy’s committee for modern language, literary and culture studies, pointed out that the Republic was the only country in Europe, with the exception of Scotland, where a foreign language was not compulsory at any stage in the main education curriculum.
According to the report, Ireland has the highest proportion of citizens in the EU who say they do not know any other language apart from their native tongue.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Graduates 'must learn languages to compete' [Independent.ie]
- Published: 06 October 2011
IRELAND needs to get serious about teaching foreign languages if graduates and the economy are to compete for jobs, a new report has warned.
The widespread perception that "English is enough" is no longer true, according to a report from the Royal Irish Academy (RIA).
The report criticises the lack of priority given to languages by the Department of Education, despite frequent urging from bodies such as the Council of Europe, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and the Expert Group for Future Skills Needs.
The RIA says that Ireland is falling far behind its neighbours, with 66pc of Irish people not knowing any other language than their native tongue, the highest percentage in Europe.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
100 inspection reports published on Department's website [education.ie]
- Published: 06 October 2011
A total of 100 school inspection-reports were published today on the Department of Education and Skills' website.
New inspection reports on the web today comprise:
- 27 whole-school evaluations (WSEs) of primary schools
- whole-school evaluations (WSEs) of post-primary schools, including 15 subject inspections and 2 programme evaluations
- 46 stand-alone subject inspections at post-primary level
- 6 stand-alone programme evaluations at post-primary level
Since 6th February 2006, inspection reports on schools and centres for education are published on the Department of Education and Skills' website at regular intervals throughout the school year.
There are now 4,945 inspection reports on the website, representative of 2,001 schools and centres for education.
WSEs are conducted in primary and post-primary schools.
WSE reports comment on the quality of the school's management and planning, teaching and learning, arrangements for student assessment, supports for students, provision for minority groups and home-school links.
Depending on the size of the school, an inspector or a team of inspectors visits the school for a period of time to conduct the evaluation.
Full Story: www.education.ie
Irish colleges tumble down university ranking list [Independent.ie]
- Published: 06 October 2011
THE reputation of Irish universities has taken another hammering in an international league table.
The research team involved blames cuts for big falls by six of Ireland's seven universities, and Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) in the most prestigious global college performance ratings.
Both Trinity College and University College Dublin (UCD) have dropped out of the top 100 in the latest Times Higher Education's World University Rankings.
Trinity has plunged from 76th to 117th place, while UCD has plummeted from 94th to 159th, with the scale of the falls compounding concerns.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
