Madam, – Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) needs to acknowledge the need for getting more value out of excessively paid university lecturers (Home News, January 7th). These people present the same material to students for years over the course of too short a year.
They also get full pay to go on sabbaticals which just benefit their own careers.
High unemployment rates among graduates are proof that there is no communication between universities and employers, hence the limited value of lecturers. It is also telling that multinationals have complained about the poor standard of Irish science graduates. This does not surprise me as, in my experience, university students are not encouraged to implement grammar and adaptability in their studies.
However, student evaluations of lecturers serve only to oppressively impact on contract staff, the only ones who are accountable in university departments.
The present structures adopted to suit permanent university lecturers have to be abolished in order to admit reality into their ivory towers. – Yours, etc,