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Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 16 May 2006

Vol. 183 No. 16

Adjournment Matters.

Third Level Places.

The question is self-explanatory so I will leave it to the Minister of State to give her reply.

I thank Senator Tuffy for raising this matter on the Adjournment. I should point out that universities and institutes of technology are autonomous institutions and, as such, are free to reduce or increase places available in particular disciplines in accordance with student demand and industry requirements.

The Department of Education and Science does not have specific statistics on places left unfilled, as requested by the Senator. However, in general, enrolments in science have remained quite constant over the period to which the Senator referred. For example, in the 2000-01 academic year, 13% of total enrolment in both the university and the institute of technology sectors was in the science disciplines. In the 2004-05 academic year, this was again 13% in the university sector and had risen to 14% in the institute of technology sector.

Engineering enrolment has also been quite constant, with 8% of overall enrolment in the university sector being in this discipline in 2000-01 and 25% in the institute of technology sector. These figures were down slightly, to 6% and22%, respectively, in the 2004-05 year. Within engineering, while civil engineering enrolment remains strong, enrolment in electronic engineering has weakened, which has an impact on the ICT sector.

There has also been a wider fall off in enrolments in the computing area which has been reflected in experience worldwide. In 2000-01, computing accounted for 8% of total enrolment in the university sector and 15% in the institute of technology sector but this dropped to 3% and 8%, respectively, in the 2004-05 academic year.

The Government's strategic ambition for Ireland is to continue to develop as a world-leading knowledge economy. The availability of an adequate number of graduates skilled in the fields of mathematics, physical sciences, biological sciences, computing, technology and engineering will be a critical factor in supporting this aim.

A number of initiatives are under way aimed at increasing participation in science at third level. Discover Science and Engineering is a national marketing and awareness campaign that aims to increase interest in science, technology, innovation and engineering among students, teachers and members of the public. Women in Technology and Science, WITS, works to actively promote women in science in Ireland. It has produced material, including a role model booklet, and a pack prepared by third level institutions, introducing secondary school girls to careers in technology and science.

It is worth noting that Ireland is performing reasonably well in the OECD in terms of our science graduation levels. With respect to our degree and advanced degree science graduation levels, we are ranked sixth out of 27 countries. As a response to recommendations of the expert group on future skills needs, the Department of Education and Science established an ICT undergraduate skills programme and an information technology investment fund for higher education. The Department has allocated €2.5 million to this fund, which is administered by the HEA, for the current year.

The fund aims to expand participation in IT education, particularly through the use of part-time education and in-company training. It supports IT education and training through postgraduate conversion courses, targeting improved completion rates in IT courses and equipment renewal. In conjunction with the ICT sector, the HEA has also launched an active publicity campaign to support students in considering the value of ICT when making their higher education choices through the CAO.

It is hoped that measures such as these will help to bridge any developing enrolment gaps in areas which are of vital importance to our future economic development, and where the job prospects are now looking increasingly good. I thank Senator Tuffy for raising this matter.

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