INDEPENDENT consultants have been called in to examine the accounts of the National Council for Educational Awards following complaints from colleges about the fees it charges for validating courses.
The Higher Education Authority appointed KPMG management consultants to look at the cost and fees structure of the NCEA late last year. However, the NCEA contested the authority's right to conduct a study into its affairs, but suggested a joint study.
In a letter to the HEA, the then chairman of the NCEA, Mr Richard Healy, also suggested the study would be "premature" until the relationship between the NCEA and Teastas, the newly established umbrella body for certifying many education courses, had been clarified.
It was agreed subsequently that the consultants' report, which is expected shortly, would be forwarded to the NCEA for comment before it is completed.
Dissatisfaction with the services provided by the NCEA has been expressed in the RTC sector which provides most of its fee income. The directors of the 11 RTCs recently drew up proposals to establish their own validating body, a move which would deprive the NCEA of the bulk of its income.
The RTCs say that with student numbers rising rapidly, the NCEA's fee income is also increasing. However, the services offered by the council have not kept up with the increasing sophistication of the colleges, it is claimed.
The NCEA charges an exam fee of about £50 a year for each RTC student. For this, it provides external examiners and organises a conferring ceremony for awards. However, the colleges cover the cost of setting the exams, running them and organising exam board meetings. The colleges are also held legally responsible if something goes wrong.
The RTCs have also expressed concern about the increasing number of private colleges and other foreign institutions which have been designated in recent years by the NCEA. While the number of courses at private colleges has doubled in each of the past two years, the council has also begun validating large numbers of foreign colleges.
The NCEA maintains this activity is highly lucrative, as charges are about twice or three times those that apply to Irish colleges.
However, the RTCs see these as fringe activities which are distracting the council from the purpose for which it was established, namely, to validate awards for RTC students. Council members have sought information about the costs incurred by the visiting teams of assessors sent to the overseas colleges.
In one recent visit, a team of assessors from the NCEA and Athlone RTC spent a week in Cyprus examining the Intercollege in Nicosia. The assessors criticised the library, course evaluation systems and exam systems in the college, but found the college had "high potential for accreditation as an affiliate of Athlone RTC".
The last annual report published by the NCEA, for 1993, shows fee income of about £1.43 million, and expenditure of £1.50 million. The Government grant was £141,000.
The council includes at least five people from the university sector but, ironically, only one from the RTCs. The Minister for Education is due to appoint a new council in July.
