Taxpayers' money is being wasted on courses that students no longer want, according to the Institutes of Technology. As nearly 1,000 IT courses go begging for students on the CAO vacant places list, the institutes believe that the sooner they become autonomous from the Department of Education, the better.
Some ITs, such as Letterkenny, Galway-Mayo and Dundalk, have been advertising vacant places in nearly all of their courses. Dundalk IT failed to fill 20 per cent of its places in round one of CAO offers. "This isn't an issue of our survival, but it is an issue of financial efficiency.
"We must be able to swiftly develop new courses that students want," stated Dr Mary Meaney, chairperson of the council of directors of the institutes.
The severe drop-off in demand for computer, technology and science courses has hit ITs hard.
Yet demand for courses in the humanities, arts, social care, engineering and business has far exceeded supply.
The institutes' lack of autonomy over a total annual budget of €391.4 million means that they are being "stifled" by the Department of Education and cannot react fast enough to changing student demands, stated Dr Meaney.
In order to thrive and to contribute to the needs of local economies, the institutes must be able to innovate and introduce new courses quickly, she argued.
The institutes were to achieve autonomy by being placed under the Higher Education Authority on January 1st, 2004, but this has now been delayed by the Department of Education.
The institutes no longer expect to join the HEA before 2005, following which there will be a period of "transition" before the institutes are fully independent, on a par with universities.
Institutes will be hopeful today that round two of the CAO offers will lead to more students accepting places in their courses. Dundalk IT is expecting to fill most of its courses.
However, nationally 92 per cent of course offers were accepted at first round, so that overall, numbers accepting institute courses at second round are unlikely to be high.
At a meeting of the council of directors in Galway yesterday, Dr Meaney stated that the Acts which govern the institutes were out of date and stifled innovation and flexibility.
"We need a radical overhaul of the legislation so that the institutes can do their work in a creative and flexible way.
"The designation of the institutions under the HEA should be used to make these important and fundamental changes.
"The institutes will then be able to meet the economic, social and regional needs of the country," Dr Meaney concluded.
Dr Meaney's comments followed this week's address by the chairman of the Higher Education Authority, Dr Don Thornhill, to senior EU education policymakers in which he stressed the importance of autonomy and the need for freedom and flexibility for universities and institutes.