Trinity College Dublin has announced a €20 million programme aimed at broadening the education of its students, by giving them tuition in foreign languages and computers and allowing them study disciplines outside their own course.
The college's radical initiative is supported by an €8 million contribution from a US billionaire, Mr Chuck Feeney, who controls Atlantic Philanthropies, the biggest private sponsor of third-level education in Ireland.
Mr Feeney's contribution is being supplemented by funds from the Government and Trinity College itself. The initiative, while relatively common in the United States, is unusual in the university system in the Republic, where students normally confine themselves to their basic degree.
The provost of Trinity College, Dr John Hegarty, said the college had been concerned for some time about "educating the whole student". It wanted to make sure Trinity graduates were "problem-solvers" who could think creatively.
He said the current curriculum in many respects was overloaded, and an initiative was needed to free up students from simply acquiring specific, narrow information. "We need to teach a range of intellectual skills that develop the complete range of mental abilities," he said.
The initiative was welcomed by the student union president, Mr Will Priestly, who said it would give students a chance to broaden their education outside the sometimes narrow confines of their course.
Dr Hegarty and the college's senior lecturer, Dr Sheila Greene, yesterday outlined what the new "broad curriculum" would mean.
Dr Hegarty said that by 2007 some 10 per cent of Trinity's curriculum would be dedicated to areas which developed students' analytical abilities.
Students in all faculties would be able to study foreign languages such as French, German, Spanish and Italian, and this work would be recognised as part of their core degree. Students, through Trinity's Centre for Learning Technology, would be able to receive training in basic information technology.
The college is also introducing six new cross-faculty courses, which will involve students in areas outside their core discipline. About 600 students have already registered for these courses, which are: Ireland's changing landscapes; sustainable development and the law; the foundation of human values; citizens, politics and decisions; critical thinking; and film, history and cultural memory.
A further six such courses will be available in the academic year 2003-2004.
Dr Hegarty said 40 postgraduate studentships were also being awarded to departments across the college (20 in 2002 and a further 20 in 2003). This would facilitate small group teaching and learning.