Crédito Grupo Solidario

Since the 1990s, the Irish education system has placed a stronger emphasis on the development of human capital to meet the needs of the labour market. There were a

28 number of key policy and legislative developments during this period, including the following:

 1992 Green Paper: Education for a Changing Ireland;

 1995 White Paper: Charting Our Educational Future;

 1997 Universities Act;

 1998 Education Act;

 1999 White Paper: Ready to Learn;

 2000 Education Act (Welfare);

 2000 White Paper on Adult Education: Learning for Life;

 2004 OECD Report: Review of National Policies for Education: Review of Higher Education in Ireland;

 2006 OCED Report: Review of National Policies for Education, Review of Higher Education in Ireland;

 OECD Report: Review of National Policies for Education, Ireland (2006);

 National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2008-2013 (2008);

 Intercultural Education Strategy (2010);

 National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 (2011).

While there have been numerous advancements in Irish education and an emphasis on equality of opportunity, there has not been sufficient funding to put this into practice. The concept of educational disadvantage was defined in the Education Act 1998, section 38 (9), which that implied there were social and economic disadvantages to education that impacted on certain sections of the population, namely the lower socio and economic disadvantaged groups. The White Paper, Charting Our Education Future (1995), defined the principles of equality and accountability that should underpin a more inclusive and quality education system. The 1998 Education Act placed a requirement on the Minister for Education to address the support services and the quality of education for all in the education system. The Equal Status Acts (2000) and (2004) provide protection against discrimination in admission and access to courses in educational institutions. The provision of English language courses address the language needs of an increasingly ethnic minority community whose first language was not English. Critics would argue that English language provision has never been

29 fully funded (O’Mahony & McMahon, 2008) and has lacked a coherent and consistent evaluation system (Charlton, 2007; Egan & Dunbar, 2008).

There have been a number of progressions in the Irish education system. The recession has had a negative impact on education services however, and resources have become increasingly restricted. The advancements seen in education in the last two decades have all but been obliterated within a very short period (IVEA, 2009c). Not only has there been a reduction in the number of academic staff, but the level of resources and funding has been reduced, yet the numbers of third level students have increased (NPEA, 2010; Fearn, 2010; Jennings, 2013). Budget 2010 withdrew the entitlement to the Maintenance Grant for mature students on the Back to Education Scheme. This was one of the recommendations of the McCarthy Report (2009) (AONTAS, 2010). There were deductions in student grants and a reintroduction of student registration fees. Reducing this funding is a threat to the foundation of our knowledge-based economy (Somerville, 2008). The most successful programmes are those that have secured direct core allocated funding (Deane, 2006). Highly skilled jobs now necessitate the need for up-skilling (IVEA, 2009b). Traditionally, part-time courses have had few financial incentives, and were generally much more expensive than full-time ones but as a result of reduced funding in successive budgets, full-time courses are currently equally expensive to finance and attend as part-time ones. The Programme for Government 2007-2012 (2007) Report had planned to introduce a new system of means-tested free fees for approved part-time courses and provide more flexible and diverse course structures (Government of Ireland 2007, 47b), but the economic recession has had an negative impact on implementing these plans. Since the beginning of the economic downturn, migrants have become more vulnerable to unemployment (Ruhs & Quinn, 2009; CSO, 2012h) with higher rates of consistent poverty (NAP, 2007).

There have been a number of major policy changes in the education sector, another fallout from the recession. For example, the National Plan for Equality of Access (2008) encountered challenges in implementing the goals outlined in the National Action Plan (NAP, 2008), while the NAP (2008) acknowledged that Ireland needed to have special regard for the needs of inward migrants but did not specifically outline these proposals (NPEA, 2010). The HEA, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice developed plans to clarify the educational entitlements of ethnic minority students and refugees (NPEA, 2010), but no plans have been established to

30 address the needs of migrants currently under-employed or unemployed under the National Plan of Equity of Access (2008).

In light of the current economic downturn, one of the recent reports on the higher education sector is a projected strategic plan up to 2030, which states that there is a need to re-examine the approach used in our higher education programmes in pedagogy, course delivery, student supports, funding and governance, as new approaches may be necessary to increase the skills and competences of the working population (National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, NSHE, 2011). Some of the jobs that people will do in the future do not exist yet, so for this reason education needs to be at the forefront to be able to address and empower future workers in Irish society. These cores skills include critical thinking and reasoning, good communication and team-working skills and an appropriate knowledge of information technology. Individuals need to be nurtured in creativity and enthusiasm and in the skills required for continual up-learning (NSHE, 2011). The demand for higher education will increase in the next 15 years (2025), from approximately 43,000 to almost 65,000 enrolments per year in 2025 (NSHE, 2011). Furthermore, there is clearly a growing demand for higher education opportunities in light of the current downturn for those employed and unemployed. People need to upgrade their skills and knowledge and adapt new ways of working (NSHE, 2011).

The HEA statistics for new entrants into higher education institutions shows that 24.3% enrolled on the Social Science Business and Law field of study for the 2010/2011 academic year (HEA, 2012). Further analysis of the HEA report reveals the subject areas of interest for new students that enrolled in that year. Business Administration courses had over 3,400 males and over 3,000 female entrants, male entrants were more interested in Computer Science (over 2,000 males), Electricity and Energy (1,069 male entrants), Architecture and Civil Engineering (1,170), Computer Science (over 2,000 male entrants), and Social Science (1,373 female & 930 male entrants) (HEA, 2012). In the future, students will learn using a variety of learning approaches such as full or part-time study on or off campus, blended or online learning, open or distance learning, and work-based learning (NSHE, 2011).

This report does contain valuable recommendations and insights but it has been criticized because it should have created a ‘coherent and accessible vision that will

31 drive both government and higher education institutions and allow Ireland to be recognised as a centre of academic and scholarly excellence’; it does not outline a definitive, coherent step-by-step plan of action to create a clear strategic vision as a guide for higher education institutions to follow (Von Prondzynski, 2011, 16).

With specific regard to migrants, the National Development Plan recognized that different groups of migrants present new challenges in Irish society to achieving social cohesion (NDP, 2007). The strategic framework for developing social inclusion revolves around policy documents and includes a plethora of policy proposals (some sadly defunct now) such as the new partnership agreement, Towards 2016, the National Report on Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion (NSSPI) (2006), the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion and the Social Inclusion Priority chapter of the NDP (2007-2013) (NDP, 2007). Although the NDP Plan (2007) states that it targets all the working age population, migrants are not specifically named in the document. ‘Integration’ policy must be grounded in the equality framework and will draw on the experience of other countries (NDP, 2007).

Policy objective 3 of the National Report for Ireland on Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2008-2010 (NSSPI) (2008) deals with the ‘integration’ of migrants. The measures proposed to actualize this ‘integration’ include reviewing and accessing current and future ‘integration’ policy. The education policies highlighted in this report are aimed at primary and post primary education, except for the development of English language provision which is provided in the third level sector (NSSPI, 2008). The next section provides a perspective of social policy development from the 1980s to the current day.