I welcome Deputy Nolan's conversion to the thinking of this side of the House because it is only a short time since we brought in a Private Member's Bill to introduce some of the measures he suggested and against which he and his party voted.
At the outset, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate my colleague from South Tipperary, Deputy Davern, on his appointment as Minister for Education. I am confident that he has the ability and temperament to successfully conduct the business of this onerous, complex and difficult Ministry. I wish him well in his endeavours.
There can be little doubt that the regional technical colleges have been one of the great success stories on the Irish education scene in the past three decades. Part of this success stems from the fact that they fulfilled a long felt need for a third level education system which was not available through the existing university structure and which catered for that large segment of the student population for whom the university system did not provide the answer. The regional technical college provides the bridgehead between the manpower requirements of our growing, technologically-based industries of the seventies and eighties and the educational systems' ability to provide their students with the skills to take up the challenge. The colleges have succeeded in their task, thanks to the vision of the people who conceived the ideas and those who had the courage to implement them.
Our regional technical college network must form the basis for the way forward in the future; any legislation to be enacted which will affect the colleges must take cognisance of the history and the background to their advancement thus far and of the reasons for their success. In other words, I am saying that legislation in this instance must be very carefully drafted lest it damage the very thing it sets our to protect.
Like many of my colleagues in the House, and many educationalists outside it, I welcome the broad general thrust of the Bill, though I would share some of the reservations which have been expressed in regard to the apparent diminution of the role of the vocational education committees. However, this matter and, indeed, other aspects of the Bill have been critically analysed by several other speakers so, rather than be repetitive, I would like to concentrate on an aspect of the Bill which affects me personally in my capacity as a representative for North Tipperary and which, indeed, also has ramifications for the Minister himself. I refer to section 3 of the Bill which deals with the formal establishment of the colleges and with the provision which allows other educational establishments to be brought within the ambit of the Bill in future.
In this context, there is a strange irony in my speaking on this Bill here today representing as I do a constituency which had legitimate and carefully planned aspirations towards having a regional technical college within its bounds. In fact, not alone was it a constituency aspiration, but a county one. Seldom, if ever, has a subject united the people of Tipperary as the proposal to establish a regional college in Thurles. The Minister himself, as a former chairman of South Tipperary Vocational Education Committee, is thoroughly familiar with all aspects of our case and has on many occasions both privately and publicly, expressed his support for the concept of a third level college in Tipperary. Our case now presents the Minister with an early and invaluable opportunity to set a benchmark for the future thrust of third level education by recognising the validity of our case for a regional college in Thurles, based on a unique concept of rural and business development, and which caters in a very real way for a county which has suffered more than most from the ill fortunes of the economic recession.
This morning, before coming into the House, I looked again at the map of the country showing the location of the regional technical colleges and I was struck once again by the glaring blank space in the south midlands, in that area occupied principally by County Tipperary. The dots on the map representing the various towns where the colleges are located form the basis for an educational web, but a web which sadly, has no centre. That centre can, should and must be provided by giving to Thurles and to Tipperary the college it needs, the college it was promised and, above all else, the college which would form a perfect link in the educational chain. This is not a plea based on emotion and proposed on empty rhetoric; it is a plea based on the reasoned and carefully planned deliberations of all interested educational bodies in the county and put forward in the form of a well documented and excellently constructed proposal.
The idea for a third level college in Thurles has been mooted and pursued for a number of years now, and seemed to have reached fruition with the purchase of a site for the college in 1987, but then came a series of deliberately orchestrated setbacks with the result that there has been no departmental progress since then. The people who care, those who see this project as a major priority, have been working on the idea, refining and distilling their proposals to the point where we now have a concept which is original and innovative and which will form the basis of an entirely new approach to third level education.
Recognising that the regional approach was one of the key factors in the success of the regional technical colleges to date, the promoters of the college, which they have titled Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute, have studied the needs of the region at large. What has emerged is the need for a rural development institute, emphasising community development, agriculture, forestry, alternative incomegenerating farm enterprises and technology transfer to rural Ireland. The institute would focus on making third level education accessible and relevant to the rural community. It would be accessible in physical terms through out-centres in second level schools. As part of their contracts, staff will have built into their terms of employment specific time for this "out-work" and there would be a series of bridging programmes to make third level education accessible to people who have not achieved the standard requirements for third level entry. This is perceived by the promoters as a significant gap in the present system and one which they intend filling.
Rural development is now a national and European priority, a fact which is recognised internationally. The main focus of the institute would be on creating and developing in the student body skills and an awareness to match existing and potential business needs. In some ways, we have a classical catch 22 situation in Tipperary in so far as we need to attract new industry but lack the core skills among our young people to provide a workforce. This is one of the prime needs which exists and which the institute proposes to fill.
I must stress the need to prevent further rural depopulation. Maybe it is overstating the obvious, but it is very valid. Rural Ireland is in serious decline and Tipperary is no different from any other region in that respect. It is a fact that in many areas of the country the ratio of young to old is altering radically on an almost daily basis and even among those young people who are in a position to remain, all too many of them are forced to travel far afield to further their education and, having done so, have then got no incentive to return. The institute would provide the framework for the exploration of new business ideas, the development of regional opportunities and the provision of supplementary income possibilities.
An EC study carried out last year on the future of rural society highlighted the risk that technological innovations are being concentrated on a small number of economic activities, to the detriment of rural society. A more sympathetic use of new technology in rural development is now imperative and, recognising this, the institute would place special emphasis on information technology and the application of technological advances to farm work, such as for example "Airtel Agriline", in addition to using computers for the monitoring of crops and animals. The institute would be planned in such a way that the mix of programmes in Thurles would adapt to changing national needs and demographic trends. The existing resources provided by Shannon Development, Teagasc, local industry and services would be used as strategic arms to develop existing business and to attract new industry.
How is all this to be achieved and where does it fit into the picture being framed by this Bill? I would like to place on the record of this House the purpose of the proposal for a third-level college in Tipperary, the programmes envisaged in those proposals, the operating procedures, staffing levels, management structures and linkages with other educational establishments. As will be seen, this is not a proposal for a college to stand in splendid isolation but a college which would enmesh itself into the fabric of life, both town and village, and which would fulfil in a manner not thought of up to now, the principles which motivated the foundation of the regional college system in the first place.
The mission of the institute, therefore, would be to provide full time and part time third level education programmes oriented towards employment in rural business, to point the way forward for future national measures which would use appropriate technology and enhance our lives and our environment. These programmes would be tailored to meet the needs of people and business in rural areas and the institute would provide a blueprint for new third level education strategies for the 21st century which would give practical expression to the ideals enshrined in the EC document, "The Future of Rural Society". That is how the institute see their mission. The putting into practice of these aspirations is something which has received the undivided attention of a great many educationists in the country over the past few years.
In regard to their operating principles, the institute would be open 14 hours a day for 360 days a year. This radical step is the first measure of the determination of the proposers of the institute to make it physically accessible to the student body at all times and to make it living and vibrant. The courses would be flexible and student oriented, geared towards employment and maintaining close links with industry and Government agencies.
Education would be used as a vehicle for development and to maintain a forward looking profile at all times. The institute staff would have continuing education as part of their contractual brief, as well as being required to assess rural development needs on an on-going basis by way of close contact with community organisations. The development of student skills would be enhanced by having work placements during their study term as in the VPT model.
This would be seen as another aid to fostering strong links with existing businesses and industry and would act as a medium for cross-pollination of ideas and innovations. The out-centres of which I spoke earlier would be the spokes in the educational wheel whereby the institute would deliver their programmes to the client and to the potential student, forming what one might term a floating campus, providing a feeder service for the greater body of the institute.
The title of the institute incorporates the ethos envisaged by their promoters, the main focus of the institute being perceived as being on rural business and rural development, these being unified by the common concern for technology transfer. The programmes would be delivered through full time education of the student body and through the continuing education of those who would use the institute to develop and enhance skills garnered in the work place or on the farm.
There are five broad areas for which the programmes would cater. The first is in the business area, which would include agri-business, forestry, marketing, accounting and general business practices and which would provide a sound framework for the progression of the student into other related areas. The second base of the programmes would be in engineering, a discipline which is envisaged as catering for food production, agricultural, engineering, electronics and construction. This section makes practical sense because of the long tradition of food and agriculture related businesses in Tipperary generally and in north Tipperary in particular.
The depredations wreaked on the town of Thurles by the devastation of the sugar industry has been well documented and has been spoken of in this House on many occasions. The town has not recovered from the trauma brought about by the sugar factory closure. I see here an opportunity for reparation, a chance for the sugar industry to return to the town some of the dignity which it stripped away from it and to repay some of the terrible price it wreaked by removing the town's most tangible asset. I call on the sugar company to throw their full weight behind the proposal to establish a college in Thurles but, more than that, to give practical expression to that proposal by offering to finance the faculty of food production by an endowment. The sugar company are engaged in food production. They have a valued and valuable food processing plant in the town in their Erin Food subsidiary. What more practical expression of their goodwill towards the town could they make than by offering financial assistance in the establishment of a third-level college which would benefit not just the town but the whole region served by the college? Such a step forward might well encourage greater participation in serving educational needs by the larger companies and industries who have much to gain from a thriving, vibrant educational network.
The third base of the proposed programmes is a natural progression of the one just described, covering as it does the broad spectrum of science and, more specifically, food processing technology, natural resources technology, agricultural science, chemistry, biology and environment. All of these have particular relevance in regard to future trends in agri-business, with the increasing emphasis on the need for environmental controls.
The fourth base of the programme is one which has particular relevance for the county at present. It covers the area of humanities and has as one of its aims the imparting of skills in local concerns, the appreciation of and approach to mental handicap being one of them. I am aware that County Tipperary lags some way behind other regions in the provision of an infrastructure for the treatment and care of mental handicap and is able to cope only because the statutory services are augmented by a huge voluntary input, an input matched by financial contribution from all the parents involved, again on a voluntary basis. This aspect of the programme would bring about a change in attitudes, a greater understanding of the needs of the individual and the responsibilities of the community. The humanities programme would also incorporate the study of languages, including Irish, and the study of local history, so necessary if the course is to have real application to the needs of the community.
The fifth base of the programme is in the area of continuing education. Even a cursory study of countrywide trends indicates that there is a growing demand for education from those who have left second level but who chose, for whatever reason, not to continue to third level. This demand will be catered for by the institute by the provision of one-year courses which would include industrial design, computer-aided design and receptionist skills. It is envisaged that post-leaving certificate students would comprise a significant proportion of the overall attendance at the college and that they would represent an important segment in the transmission of ideas and needs from community to college and vice versa.
As a corollary to this broad base of programmes, the institute would promote a more systematic use of new technology in rural development by means of information technology, and subsequently translating that into the practical application of technology in a "hands-on" situation in farming. Coupled with this would be the provision of a focal point for EC programmes in rural technology such as the industry-education interaction and rural communications technology programmes.
With regard to continuing education, it is now recognised that this helps people to cope with change and there is a noticeable international demand for education from those who have left the education system. Coping with that demand forms an essential part of the national strategy in many advanced economies and one of the most important criteria in the success of continuing education is accessibility — the convenience of location to the student. The institute itself and the proposed use of "out-centres" will solve this problem. These "out-centres" would be provided in the second level schools in the institute's catchment area and courses in business and enterprise, applied science and environment, engineering, technology and community development would be offered there. In addition, the teaching staff would act as advisers or counsellors for local enterprises in the community, out of which would spring further courses suggested by people in the community.
Another important facet of this aspect of the institute would be the upgrading of business skills within existing enterprises through the solution of practical problems, the provision of follow-up counselling and by being accessible to the people taking the course.
In order to provide all these programmes the institute would have a broad spectrum of staff. There would be full-time staff with the appropriate qualifications for teaching at third level. Arrangements would be made with Shannon Development and Teagasc for the part-time secondment of staff with appropriate qualifications and experience; it may even be envisaged that Shannon Development could have a full-time business development officer on campus. There would also be part-time staff drawn from local industry and business.
There is a very representative and wide ranging corpus of statutory and voluntary organisations to provide the framework of the management structure, among them being the Department of Education, the Office of Science and Technology, Shannon Development, Teagasc, North Tipperary and South Tipperary Vocational Education Committee's, voluntary secondary schools, churches, industry, trade unions and others. As part of the overall linkage with the broader framework of third level education, the institute would adopt as a matter of policy a programmed approach to linking with the other institutions in the area, including the University of Limerick, University Colleges Cork and Galway, the Garda Training College, Templemore, the College of Art, Commerce and Technology, Limerick, Thomond College, Rockwell Agricultural College, Gurteen Agricultural College, St. Patrick's Diocesan College, Thurles, and others.
The proposal to establish a Tipperary rural and business development institute is well researched. It identifies and articulates a unique concept and educational requirement, as well as catering for the economic and educational needs of the area. The institute would contribute to providing further badly needed third level places for students in Ireland. I would earnestly ask my distinguished fellow Tipperary colleague who now occupies the office of Minister for Education to give this proposal priority, to exercise his ministerial authority to advance its cause and to help us to bring our plans to fruition.
While all of what I have just said may sound like a local issue in the context of the Bill under discussion, I feel that the point must nonetheless be made. It is important for us all that the advances made in Irish third level education in the past three decades should be continued and enhanced. I believe this Bill is a significant and worthwhile step on the road to doing so, just as I passionately believe that the proposals in the Tipperary rural and business development institute plan are not only vital to the well being of my area, but may well prove vital to the future of the whole concept of regional colleges in Ireland. Those are my thoughts on section 3 of the Bill and the way it affects current events in the development of regional colleges.
As I mentioned already, I welcome the Bill in broad terms. I believe it seeks to give greater autonomy to the colleges, and this is a good feature. The success of the colleges is partly attributable to their adaptability to the needs of their regions and in order to be able to do this, the managements of the individual colleges must be free to make independent decisions based on measured and quantified local requirements. I believe the Bill is doing this by devolving authority to the colleges themselves.
It would also seem from this that the Bill will effectively sever the direct link between the vocational education committee and the college by transferring the powers not delegated to the colleges directly to the Department of Education. This would certainly assist the colleges to conform to the regional concept rather than the local mandate imposed by existing legislation. But let me caution, there is an ongoing body of experience in the vocational education sector and this should form an integral part of the advisory body to both the Minister and the college management. For example in section 6, it should be made clear that the regional nature of the college should be reflected in the composition of the governing body.
It has been said that development in higher education can, and often does, presage political and administrative change in society in general. The regional technical college system is an example of now successful the decentralisation of educational opportunity can be. If it is used as the role model for future progress and for the sensible blancing of local, regional and national interests, then the long term benefits could be very great indeed. When we look at the figures for student enrolment in regional technical colleges we find that an average 80 per cent of the students come from within the region of each college. This more than anything else highlights the regional nature of the colleges and the need for care in restructuring the system.
The governing body of any educational establishment should, of its very nature, reflect the academic status of that establishment but in this context should also take cognisance of regional needs and achievements. This requires awareness of commercial and industrial enterprise in the region in order to maintain the socio-economic balance which is vital to future progress.
It is a fact, regrettable but nonetheless real, that access to third level education for many students from the lower socioeconomic backgrounds is not a realisable proposition and this must be of concern. It is an area in which the national colleges have a major part to play. Just over 50 per cent of third level enrolments each year are in the non-university sector and this figure is likely to increase in the future. With a properly structured approach the regional technical colleges are in a unique position to feel the pulse of educational requirement in a regional basis and to ensure that individual groups or segments of society do not get left behind. They can do this by remaining close to their roots, to the people and the students of their own regions.
The regional technical colleges are a major component in the broad spectrum of Irish education. This Bill should consolidate that position but we should be aware of the concerns being voiced by various groups about individual sections in the Bill.
In conclusion, I am very pleased to have heard this morning that Mr. John Slattery, Chief Executive Officer of South Tipperary Vocational Education Committee has been seconded by the Minister to work in the Department of Education. I offer my good wishes to Mr. Slattery coupled with my hope that his professed desire for a college in Thurles will now be allied to the expertise of the Minister in providing a real Tipperary flavour to the next regional college to be added to the list in the First Schedule to this Bill.
