DCU: Third-level education cuts will hinder economic recovery
Painful cuts to third-level education will hamper economic recovery, a college leader warned today.
Dublin City University (DCU) president Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski slammed money-saving measures proposed in An Bord Snip Nua and claimed learning institutions were key to the country’s escape from recession.
The professor said the redundancies, research savings and student support cuts recommended in the McCarthy Report would seriously undermine progress made by Irish learning institutions.
“If we downgrade out universities, undermine their financial viability, cut their research and control them centrally, they will cease to be a magnet for international investment in Ireland,” Prof von Prondzynski said.
“Ireland’s drive to recover prosperity and growth will not succeed so easily.”
The 300-page report compiled by economist Colm McCarthy proposes 140 million euro worth of third-level staff cuts and a €27.5m reduction in research funding.
It also recommends the withdrawal of more than €70m from student support schemes.
Speaking at a DCU graduation ceremony, Prof. von Prondzynski said decision-makers failed to fully grasp the role of universities in modern Ireland.
“It has not been adequately recognised, but the strength and vitality of our universities are the main instrument we have for national recovery.
“Unless this is understood, we are doomed to return to the experience of the 1970s and 1980s of economic decline and national crisis.
“It should not be allowed to happen.”
The professor also used his online university blog to warn Government bureaucracy was threatening the autonomy of third-level institutions.
“As the Government seeks to control its financial commitments, it may try to use the same mechanisms to reduce the expenditure of universities that it will use to control government departments and agencies,” he wrote.
“Universities are not public bureaucracies, they are knowledge organisations with a mission to teach and develop and disseminate knowledge.
“They need to be able to operate with great flexibility and they should have a reduction (rather than increase) in controls from government in order to maximise their potential for meeting national needs.”
