Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 July 2021
412. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if students particularly those pursuing part-time and evening courses will have the option to continue attending college remotely when classes resume for the new semester; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35947/21]
View answerHigher education institutions are autonomous bodies as set out in the Universities Act 1997, the Institutes of Technology Acts 1992 to 2006 and the Technological Universities Act 2018, and are therefore academically and administratively independent. This includes in relation to how courses are delivered, and it is not within my remit to determine whether individual courses are delivered in-person or online.
Following Government approval, I published A Safe Return: Plan for a safe return to on-site Further and Higher Education and Research in 2021/22. The Plan reflects the essential nature of higher and further education and training, and research activities, and in that context, provides for comprehensive on-site activity for the next academic year, with almost full scale on-site activities.
At a very minimum, workshops, tutorials, classroom based activities and smaller lectures will be allowed and libraries, research facilities and labs will be opened. Institutions and providers will continue to put in place plans to ensure that the overall number of people on campus at a given time continues to be moderated.
Under the Plan, larger scale lectures will take place on-site if the public health situation continues to improve as expected but some moderation in numbers may still be required. The safety measures which will be in place such as social distancing, face masks, ventilation will be in accordance with prevailing public health advice taking into account the essential nature of further and higher education and research.
Whether students will have the option to continue attending remotely once on-site attendance resumes will be matter for individual institutions, and students seeking further information should engage directly with their institution on this matter.
