The decision by the Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, to upgrade the status of Waterford Regional Technical College (RTC) to that of an Institute of Technology has produced a predictable domino effect. Several thousand Cork RTC students gathered in Dublin yesterday to seek a similar upgrading for their college. There are rumblings of discontent from other RTCs Dundalk and Sligo are said also to be anxious to achieve an upgrading; students at Athlone RTC are apparently planning disruptive action to press their case.
Ms Breathnach can hardly be surprised by the gathering storm; any decision involving the status of a third level institution treads on local sensitivities. Indeed, there was a fair measure of political calculation in the Minister's decision to upgrade Waterford RTC. A festering sore the demand for a university has been removed from Waterford's political agenda and, suddenly, the prospects for candidates from the Government parties at the next general election look brighter.
That said, there was a strong objective case for upgrading Waterford RTC. The south east was the only region in the State without a university level institution and the negative impact of this on the employment potential for the area was widely acknowledged. It is also the case that a move to upgrade Waterford's RTC to Institute of Technology status was recommended by an independent agency - the Technical Working Group of the Higher Education Authority's Steering Committee in June 1995.
The same report also has much to say about the need to preserve the diversity of third level education with university and extra university sectors. The RTCs have been one of the success stories of Irish education. They have provided high quality education, across a wide range of disciplines, for many school leavers. Many have courses which are tailored to meet the precise educational and employment needs of their own area. In the work place, the skills and experience of RTC graduates are greatly coveted.
Ms Breathnach's task, as the pressure builds from the other RTCs for an upgrading, is not an easy one. Cork RTC, in particular, is widely seen as one of the most progressive in the State and any decision to deny it a change in status will be seen as mean spirited and discriminatory across much of Munster. But the Minister should be strong enough to take the wider view. The imperative is twofold to preserve the diversity that is provided by the RTCs and to preserve the standing of the university system. A decision to upgrade every one of the RTCs would clearly undermine both objectives.
If the Minister seeks a compromise it might be found in restyling the RTCs as Regional Institutes of Technology, in accordance with the recommendation of the HEA. The term "regional college" - with its old fashioned connotations hardly does justice to the exciting and innovative work that is under way ate the RTCs. A change of name, with a subtle shift of emphasis, might help to assuage local feelings, while helping to preserve a very valuable component in the third level system. Lessons might also be learnt from the British experience where the decision to upgraded polytechnics to university status has undermined academic standards and public confidence in higher education.