Dr. John Wall:

I work with Dr. Donnelly, Dr. Wells and others in WIT. I work in the school of lifelong earning and education. I would like to pick up on what has been said by Dr. Donnelly and others. There is no doubt that the region faces challenges from the perspective of educational attainment. There are positive examples of what both institutes are trying to do at present. We hope to hear something positive from Springboard later this week.

I will give some examples of engagements we have been involved with over the past couple of years. A number of people from the construction industry are participating in our ICT skills programme. I am originally a civil engineer. I know better than most the skills one acquires in the construction industry, particularly in the whole area of project management. Those skills are needed in the software industry. A number of those who are currently taking our ICT skills courses come from a background in architecture or construction. Last year, we were successful with a number of programmes in the whole Springboard domain. I refer, for example, to the postgraduate diplomas in innovative technology engineering and in lean practice. This links back to the discussion we had earlier about building the capacity for advanced manufacturing in the south east. When I give feedback to groups like this committee, I emphasise that we engage in "mark to market" practices in terms of the numbers we might get on these programmes. If we are to leverage them, we need to be above the market. We need to build them up over a period of three to five years so we can deliver for the region. That would be one of the recommendations I would make in this regard.

I wish to return to what Dr. Donnelly said about engagement. We have argued for some time that a transformation in the way we deliver the curriculum will have to be one of the key features of the technological university. It should not always be about people coming into the classroom. We should use technology to engage remotely with them. We should make provision for our students to go out on internships and solve real-world problems. We are working to ensure this is one of the key features of the technological university. I hope I have given the committee an idea of what I consider to be positive initiatives that can further leverage both institutes in assisting the region and improving its educational attainment.