Significant additional funding is required if technological universities are to achieve their full potential, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has warned.
The union represents 4,600 academic staff in technological universities and institutes of technology. Institutes of technology and technological universities have played a critical role in developing the country’s education landscape across the regions, said TUI president Liz Farrell.
However, funding across the sector remains a key concern, she added.
“Our members want technological universities to become centres of excellence in their regions, but without a major increase in funding for the sector, this aspiration cannot be realised and the development of the new projects will be little more than rebranding exercises.”
The OECD’s latest indicators make clear the “hugely damaging effects” of an era of underinvestment at third level, Ms Farrell said.
These figures show the ratio of students to teaching staff in Ireland now stands at 22:1, significantly higher than the respective OECD and European averages of 15:1 and 14:1.
“This is a legacy of the ongoing political refusal to address the sector’s funding crisis, which results in larger class sizes and less access to laboratories, equipment, materials, libraries, and tutorials.”
Since 2019, the majority of the country’s institutes of technology have merged to become technological universities. Two remaining institutes, Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT) and Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), must be facilitated in joining one as a “matter of urgency”.
The institutes “must be facilitated to be part of the new sector and the appropriate funding and resources must be provided to make this happen”, Ms Farrell added.
Separately, the TUI is also calling for the implementation of a Labour Court recommendation for Adult Education Tutors. In 2020, the Labour Court recommended they receive a common, sector-wide incremental salary scale.
“These tutors provide a vital and high-quality service to some of the most marginalised in society and must now be provided with the terms and conditions of employment that they deserve as a matter of urgency,” Ms Farrell said.
“The ongoing delay by Government in doing so is completely and utterly unacceptable.”
