A few weeks ago I was getting accolades from some members of DIT staff for the opinion piece I wrote on the binary system (E&L, October 13th). This week, however, I'm getting missiles. Ross O'Daly, overall president of the DIT students' union, has written to highlight "a basic fallacy in the argument that academic means university and that skills and vocational education mean an institute of technology". Universities, he says, "were founded as vocational institutions and most have a large vocational component. By the same token many of the world's best known technological institutions are universities."
O'Daly argues that the awarding of university status to DIT would in no way herald the end of the binary system in third-level education. "The DIT's position is unique. It is very different from any other educational institution in Ireland and the future well-being of its student population depends on the success of its mission. The 23,000 students, the staff, the governing body and, indeed, the politicians, with whom we have had correspondence and there are many of these, all believe that the DIT should be a new type of university."
O'Daly goes on to say that neither DIT students, staff or management wish to create another traditional university. "The DIT's mission is to remain committed to vocational and industry-related education and this is the attraction for its students. In this day and age, when universities are identifying themselves increasingly with industry and some industries are indentifying themselves with universities, the establishment of a university offering Irish society education from apprenticeship to postgraduate level would mean that Ireland had established something quite new instead of slavishly following as heretofore. "This would allow DIT to offer its students, who come from a wide variety of academic and social backgrounds, educational and vocational preparation across all levels from a base of teaching excellence and scholarship." O'Daly notes that DIT "attracts more first preferences and educates far more students than any other third-level institution in this country. It produces more apprentices and more technicians than any other institution in the country and indeed produces more degree-level students than most of the universities. O'Daly says that "23,00 students and some 75,000 parents, alumni and staff believe DIT is worthy of a new status and they are right".
