An insider's guide to education

** Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe slipped out of the country last week on a mission to win friends in Saudi Arabia. At the invitation of King Abdullah, the minister attended the opening of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Jeddah.

Sounds like a good move. The university will have one of the largest endowments in the world (around $10 billion) and it has sought research partnerships with universities overseas.

Did someone mention the new UCD/TCD Innovation Alliance?

It’s expected that a number of Irish students will be funded to undertake postgraduate research in Jeddah.

So, is there a crock of gold at the end of the Arabian rainbow for Irish researchers? The research community here should note that King Abdullah’s university has identified four key strategic research themes: resources, energy and environment; biosciences and bioengineering; materials science and engineering; and applied mathematics and computational science.

** What is it about teachers showing outstanding management ability in Gaelic games?

Kerry senior football manager , Jack O’Connor is the latest teacher to make such a success of inter-county management. It is quite a roll of honour at this stage, including Brian Cody, Mickey Harte, Ger Loughnane, John Allen, John O’Mahony and Donal O’Grady.

Interviewed in TUI News, O’Connor, a TUI member, envisages a day when the GAA will have to put coaches in schools. “Teachers are being squeezed so much that they don’t have the time or inclination” to coach the school team, he notes.

n What is going on at Dublin Business School (DBS), the privately- run college now controlled by Kaplan Inc, the owner of the Wall Street Journal.

Some staff at the Aungier Street school are said to be unhappy with the regime. And they’ve been quick to alert the media – on an anonymous basis – in recent weeks.

But DBS says all is fine with student enrolment increasing despite the downturn, though it acknowledges there have been some resignations among academic staff. And the college points out that, in such a large organisation, a number of lecturers would tend to resign at the end of each academic year anyway.

DBS has more than 9,000 students studying multiple disciplines. About 300 are law students.

** Incoming INTO general secretary, Sheila Nunan made her maiden media voyage last week on Seán Rourke’s News at One – always essential listening for news junkies.

Nunan had a good cut at the ESRI. The institute had pointed to the widening gap between well-heeled public servants and their suffering comrades in the private sector. Nunan’s advice? Go and have a proper look at pay practices in the private sector.

It was a cool, impressive performance.

So here’s a prediction: In 12 months time, Nunan (who takes over as general secretary next Easter) will be one of the best-known public figures in the State.

** The recent conference of vocational school managers was both interesting and good fun, thanks in no small measure to IVEA boss Michael Moriarty. The highlight? Brigid McManus, the good-humoured Department of Education secretary, being serenaded by a terrific after-dinner ensemble called The Singing Waiters.

O Sole Mio!

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