Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
20 November 2012
Opening statement – Mr. Tom Boland, CEO, Higher Education Authority
Introduction
I welcome the opportunity to take part in today’s discussion on skills
needs and on the match between industry requirements and the higher
education sector. I am joined today by Muiris O’Connor, Head of Policy
and Planning with the HEA.
We have provided the Committee with a written submission. I will cover
the key points in this opening statement.
The HEA fully appreciates the important role that the higher education
system plays in the economic, as well as the social development, of
Ireland. In particular, given the subject of today’s discussion, we
appreciate the role of the sector in developing Ireland’s intellectual
resources, and in particular our technological competence and capacity to
innovate.
The responsiveness of the sector to the needs of enterprise generally is
well reflected in the breadth of programme provision across Irish higher
education, from level 6 (higher certificate) to level 10 (doctoral degree) of
the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ).
As a matter of policy, institutions adapt existing programmes and develop
new programmes on an on-going basis in response to student and
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enterprise demand. All institutions undergo rigorous strategic planning
processes involving input from a wide range of stakeholders, including
employers. The institutes of technology have a particular role in
supporting the business community in tangible and practical ways: their
programmes are closely aligned to the needs of industry, and employers
are usually represented on their course-development boards.
Overall therefore, and without wishing to convey any sense of
complacency, I believe the HE system has responded well to a wide range
of skills needs down the years. As a country we need however a constant
focus on the outcomes we achieve from the sector and how they address
national priorities.
It is worth advising some caution however. We must not assume that the
primary role of the HE sector is to provide job ready graduates for
enterprise. The danger inherent in that approach is that the skills of our
graduates would quickly become obsolete. Given the rapid pace of
technological advancement and globalisation within the ‘knowledge
economy’, the skills needs of industry are continually evolving, particularly
in technological domains. The preparation of skilled employees has to be a
partnership between higher education and employers.
The key
characteristic required of graduates (one at least as important as technical
or discipline specific knowledge) is that they have a core of generic skills in
areas such as literacy, numeracy, information processing, communicating,
critical and creative thinking, working with others and being personally
effective. Graduates will need to forge careers across a range of sectors
during their working lives so adaptability to change is also vital. The role of
the employer is to take these graduates and provide them with the next
level of education and training appropriate to their particular industry.
The responsiveness of institutions to the evolving skills needs of industry is
reflected in academic development and reform through actions such as
the increasing modularisation and semesterisation of courses at
undergraduate level, leading to greater opportunities for inter-disciplinary
study.
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At postgraduate level, the roll-out of structured PhDs and other
developments such as the Graduate Research Education Programme
(GREP) are facilitating the provision of research and “soft” skills training,
and the direct involvement of industry partners in programme delivery.
The importance of original research and innovation to economic renewal is
understood by all in higher education.
That responsiveness is also reflected in the Springboard programmes and
the ICT Skills Conversion Programmes. Launched in 2011, Springboard
provides higher education opportunities from NFQ levels 6–10 on a freefee basis to unemployed people in areas of employment growth. Building
on the success of the 2011 programme, which provided 5,875 free places
in higher education institutions across the country, the 6,000 places on the
220 courses offered in 2012 will help to address skills deficits across the
broad spectrum of enterprise sectors—including ICT, medical devices,
pharmaceuticals, green energy, financial services, and food and
beverage—as well as equipping graduates with cross-enterprise skills in
areas such as sales, entrepreneurship, and marketing with foreign
languages. 60% of these courses include a work-placement.
I will conclude my opening remarks with specific comments on the three
areas of skills needs which the Committee identified in the invitation to
today’s discussion.
Information communications technology (ICT)
We recognise the deficit in graduates with high-level ICT skills within
Ireland and internationally and the vital importance of these opportunities
for the advancement of Ireland’s national enterprise strategy.
We are greatly encouraged by the recent trends in the demand for ICT
programmes and more broadly in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) through the CAO system and these trends are
outlined in our written submission
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In support of these positive trends, the ICT Action Plan, launched in
January 2012, represents a whole-of-government response to addressing
the deficit in ICT skills in which the higher education sector is playing a key
role. As part of the implementation of the Plan, a key target of which is to
double the number of ICT graduates by 2018, the HEA’s ICT Skills
Programme is supporting the delivery, in partnership with industry, of 23
new one-year graduate conversion courses in ICT, providing 818 free
places on courses offered by 16 higher education providers around the
country. Featuring accredited work-placements, these courses are
equipping graduates with core computing and programming skills, as well
as with a range of specialisations in niche areas of growth potential such as
cloud computing and web development.
In light of the high demand for places on these courses, I am delighted to
inform the Committee that the HEA and Department of Education and
Skills have just issued a ‘Call for Proposals’ for further courses to be
provided under the ICT Skills Programme in 2013 which places strong
emphasis on the quality of industry/academic partnership in the design,
development and delivery of programmes.
The HEA’s Springboard initiative, in which a third of all places are on ICT
courses, is also having a very positive impact on the supply of ICT
graduates. There are 750 graduates to date from ICT courses at NFQ levels
6–9, with a further 2000 ICT graduates expected before the end of 2012
and during 2013. A review and report on early employment outcomes is
underway in respect of those who have graduated so far, and will be
available shortly.
Foreign languages
The vital importance for the Irish economy of enhancing our skills-base in
foreign languages is also fully acknowledged although less well understood
in terms of student demand patterns.
We have seen modest growth in undergraduate enrolments in foreign
languages taken as a single subject in the period 2007–2010 and we
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understand that modularisation and semesterisation of undergraduate
programmes is increasing the opportunities for students across all
disciplines to study a foreign language as an accredited part of their
degree.
The HEA is currently undertaking research to establish a comprehensive
and accurate picture of all foreign-language programme provision in Irish
higher education. Preliminary results of this research indicate that
European languages, as well as Chinese and Japanese, are studied as a
component of a very broad range of disciplines across business, the arts,
the humanities, and the sciences.
The priority now will be to mobilise student demand for the language
learning opportunities that are increasingly available.
Food production/technology
As indicated in the EGFSN’s Key Skills for Enterprise to Trade
Internationally report, the food and beverage sector is key to Ireland’s
economic growth.1 This is reflected in the wide range of undergraduate
and postgraduate courses in food production and technology which are
offered at NFQ levels 6–10 across universities and institutes of technology
in Ireland. These have all benefitted from the growing demand for Science
and Technology programmes in Irish higher education.
In addition, a number of part-time courses in the area are being provided
through Springboard 2012, building on the 247 places allocated in 2011.
125 people graduated in summer 2012 from Springboard food and
beverage courses, with a similar number currently completing courses and
due to graduate before the end of 2012 and during 2013.
Concluding Remarks
The reform of higher education that the HEA, through the implementation
of the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, is currently leading
will build on the responsiveness of higher education to society and the
economy.
1
See Key Skills for Enterprise to Trade Internationally, 95–103.
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Through on-going strategic dialogue with institutions and the introduction
of a performance management framework for the sector, the HEA will
support and monitor the performance of institutions relative to strategic
national priorities.
Moreover, central to the reconfiguration of the higher education
landscape will be the formation of regional clusters of institutions.2
Characterised by close coordination and cooperation between various
types of higher education institutions—and by enhanced engagement
between them and local authorities, agencies, and other stakeholders—
regional clusters will, through the pooling of expertise, assist in developing
shared solutions to local, regional and national needs.3
Engagement, along with teaching and learning and research is one of the
three pillars on which the National Strategy is based. This is engagement
in its widest sense, but engagement with enterprise is a key element.
Recognising this, within the next week, I will be appointing from within the
current resources of the HEA, a senior member of staff to take a lead role
in enterprise/higher education liaison. The key focus of the role will be to
develop an overarching HEA strategy for engagement, with specific
reference to engagement with the enterprise/business sectors; to
promote proactively the enterprise engagement strategy within the HEA
and support the creation of an enhanced level of understanding of
enterprise needs and to promote, proactively, the enterprise engagement
strategy in the higher education system for the purpose of achieving
identified outcomes.
2
On regional clusters see Ibid., 98–99.
See HEA, ‘Towards a Future Higher Education Landscape’,
http://www.hea.ie/files/TowardsaFutureHigherEducationLandscape.pdf.
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