THE CABINET will shortly consider a report from an expert group, chaired by economist, Dr Colin Hunt, on a strategy for higher education. The report has been billed by successive ministers for education as a critically important document, charting a course for the sector until 2030.
While the Hunt Report has yet to be published, key findings have already been leaked. The group alerts Government to a deepening financial crisis in a sector which is struggling to cope with an additional 65,000 students over the next decade. It says annual funding will need to increase by up to €500 million a year up to 2020 – with a virtual doubling by 2030. Hunt says the sector can do much to help itself by sharpening its commercial focus and by achieving greater efficiencies through rationalisation, collaboration between colleges, and the introduction of more modern, flexible teaching contracts. Critically, Hunt also believes the era of free fees must come to an end, backing an Australian-style system of student loans.
Minister for Education Mary Coughlan has ruled out any new student tuition charges during the lifetime of this administration. She says the Green veto on the issue – incorporated in the Revised Programme for Government – is non-negotiable. Green Party education spokesman Paul Gogarty says he encountered little difficulty in securing the veto from Fianna Fáil and that the agreement is binding and cannot be re-opened.
While the Minister and Mr Gogarty have been anxious to reassure parents, they have still seriously to address a more fundamental question: how does this State build a long-term, sustainable funding base for higher education? The latter has much to do over the next decade. Both the Smart Economy and the Innovation Task Force reports say a cutting edge higher education sector will drive the next stage of economic development, and the Government itself has set ambitious targets for it as a key player in revival. The future health of third level is not simply a matter for academics and educationalists, it is fundamental to the Government’s entire economic strategy.
In all the circumstances, one might expect a serious engagement by the Government in the problems of the sector and a determination to address them. Instead, higher education in this State has been allowed to drift without a coherent policy direction and without a proper funding base. The 2004 OECD Review of Higher Education Policy in Irelandcalled for a "quantum leap'' in funding and the return of student fees. But the much-admired report has been allowed to gather dust.
The forthcoming Hunt report affords an opportunity for a new beginning. It makes the straightforward case that those who can afford fees should be asked to make a contribution – via an income-contingent loan scheme – in the wider interests of this society. Several Government Ministers, including Batt O’Keeffe and Noel Dempsey, accept the case for some form of student contribution. Fine Gael also backs the concept of a graduate tax. It is the right time for the Government to accept its responsibilities.