The higher education system is helping to create jobs, raise living standards and give Ireland an edge in the global market. But this cannot be taken for granted. Almost eight years of spending cuts, rising student numbers and falling numbers of academic staff mean the sector is under acute pressure. A report commissioned by the State body responsible for quality assurance in higher education contained more troubling findings. It found spending cuts have pushed some third-level courses to "crisis point" with serious implications for their sustainability.
The cumulative effect of reduced funding and higher student-staff ratios and casualisation of employment is posing a real threat to the quality of teaching and learning. And, if anything, the pressure will keep rising. We have one of the fastest growing populations in Europe. High birth rates mean the number of students entering higher education is projected to increase by almost 30 per cent by 2028. Annual funding will need to rise by about €1 billion just to meet this demand.
An expert group on future funding was established almost two years ago to draw up options for the Government on how to reform the system. In the absence of a new government, its report remains unpublished, but it is understood to make the case for sweeping change to create the kind of high quality third-level education system the State requires.
These reforms include an income-contingent loan system for students, combined with greater maintenance support for those from low-income backgrounds and extra funding from the State and employers. The recommendations are prudent and equitable and would help ensure the system is adequately resourced, while keeping it free at the point of access for all.
However, there are a number of crucial caveats. Sustained government investment will be vital along with a fair and generous maintenance grant system and limits on tuition fees.
Yet, there is every chance a new government – if one is formed at all – will simply kick the can down the road yet again. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have pledged in draft policy documents circulated to Independent TDs that the issue will be referred to an Oireachtas committee, a response that is so often the code for ducking controversial decisions.
The status quo is not sustainable. Many families just outside income grant thresholds are struggling to pay student contribution fees which have climbed to €3,000 a year. The quality of higher education is under real threat. The system of funding is increasingly unfit for purpose. If Ireland as a society, a State and an economy aspires to quality third-level education, it needs to face up to difficult decisions. The future prosperity of our graduates, as well as the wider economy, is at stake.