One of the factors that contributed to the transformation of the Irish economy over the last forty years has been a determined focus on raising the level of education. What started in 1966 with the introduction of free second level education by Donogh O’Malley now sees Ireland having the highest rate of third-level education in the EU.
Figures published by the Central Statistics Office this week show that 56 per cent of people aged 25-64 in Ireland had, as of last year, attained a third-level qualification, compared with an EU average of 35 per cent. The older members of this cohort would have been amongst the first beneficiaries of O’Malley’s initiative.
The initial impact of investment in education may have been to improve the job prospects of emigrants but the role that a young, educated workforce played and still plays in attracting inward investment is well known at this stage.
Low corporate taxes and generous grants may have brought companies such as Intel, HP, Microsoft and Dell here in the 1970s and 1980s but the availability of educated workers was instrumental in getting them to stay and invest further.
Other benefits included social mobility and the sustained entry of women into the workforce at every level. Paradoxically, the same focus may now – in some areas at least – be hampering our ability to deal with the consequences of growth.
Approximately a third of Irish third level graduates work in occupations that do not require third level qualifications for entry, according to a study by the Nevin Institute think tank. Its findings are matched by reports from the national training agency Solas that our underdeveloped vocational education and training system is restricting the supply of skilled workers in important areas of the economy such as construction.
A perusal of the election manifestos of the main parties indicate that the bias towards third level remains strong. It is an important asset - as is investment in further research – but a wider view of education could also pay dividends, both for individuals and society.