Dáil debates

Wednesday, 24 May 2017

Priority Questions

Student Retention Rates

3:20 pm

Photo of Carol NolanCarol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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31. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to address the non-progression rates in institutes of technology. [24756/17]

Photo of Carol NolanCarol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister outline his plans to address the high non-progression rates in institutes of technology?

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Higher Education Authority, HEA, has recently published its latest study of progression in Irish higher education, which provides an analysis of data relating to non-progression in 2013-14 of full-time undergraduate new entrants to HEA funded institutions.  The study shows that the proportion of new entrants who did not progress overall is 15% across all sectors and National Framework of Qualifications, NFQ, levels. This compares with 16% in 2012-13. That is a small improvement.

Below average progression rates continue in the fields of construction and related services, computer science and engineering, with variation between sectors and institutions. There is, however, some improvement reported in progression rates for computer science, with rates increasing from 80% to 84%. Institutes of technology rates have increased from 74% to 80% compared with universities from 85% to 88%. This would indicate that the funding made available for retention measures is having a positive impact.

One of the key objectives my Department has set for higher education is to improve equity of access and student pathways. The HEA works with the institutes to improve recruitment and to tackle early dropout. There are a wide range of initiatives that can contribute to better recruitment and retention. These include access programmes, surveys of student experiences, extra tuition in areas of known difficulty, and improvements in first year experience.

The HEA is working to ensure good practice in this area is disseminated and implemented across all institutions and disciplines. The HEA has produced a discussion paper on the factors that contribute to student success.  A working group has been established, which is chaired by the HEA, and it comprises representatives from across the higher education sector. The intention is to identify the type of strategies and measures that have been shown to be successful in different institutional contexts. The national forum for the enhancement of teaching and learning is facilitating a focused scoping exercise to inform the activities of the working group. The scoping exercise is being chaired by the Union of Students of Ireland. This will ensure the student voice is central to this process. It is expected that the working group will produce its report by the end of 2017.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The research shows that there are certain factors consistently associated with non-progression in courses. These include prior educational attainment and parental occupation. Colleges are encouraged to develop access and progress in their strategies. A role can also be played by broadening the choice of education and training paths available to students, and my ambition is that 20% of pupils would have the option of apprenticeships or traineeships in the coming years.

Photo of Carol NolanCarol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his response. It is important we address this issue as soon as possible. The fact the non-progression rate stands at 15% is extremely worrying. The Minister has pointed out that there was improvement in some courses, but there are courses such as construction and level 6 and level 7 courses that still have an unacceptably high rate of non-progression. The Minister is aware that we have had meetings of the Joint Committee on Education and Skills where many academics from the institutes of technology clearly outlined the impact of the lack of funding in the sector. Many of the academics spoke of how they were going out of their way to support students, disadvantaged students and students with disabilities and special needs and how they were finding it extremely difficult to do so. This issue needs urgent action. I would like to see concrete actions and timeframes. The Minister has said there will be a range of measures introduced, but we need a timeframe. Those academics are at the end of their tether in the institutes of technology and it is unfair to subject staff to that sort of pressure.

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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There are initiatives that are proving successful. This is about looking at the individual students, asking why they drop out and seeing what has gone wrong. Some of the access programmes have been very successful because they support students right through their transition and perhaps offer help with supplementary studies. Sometimes mathematics might be a problem, for example, for students whose maths preparation was not adequate for their chosen course.

It is not just a question of resources right across the sector; it is about policies being designed. Obviously, each institution is independent and the HEA, as I outlined in the reply, is looking to see what the best practice is and is seeking to mainstream that. From the overall framework we set targets for each institution, and reducing drop-out rates is a key target. We review the performance of institutions on this measure. This is why the HEA has taken this new initiative to try to improve the practice within each institution. It is hoped this will be crowned with success. It can be seen, across the various qualifications, that perhaps some people make mistakes in their choices. This goes back to Deputy Thomas Byrne's comments earlier that some students may pick a science subject when they may have been better off choosing an apprenticeship route. That scenario might have been better for all concerned rather than high placement rates. We need to work across the spectrum to reduce the figures of non-progression.

Photo of Carol NolanCarol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I totally agree with the Minister's point that students may make mistakes or errors in choices. Would the Minister not agree, however, that this is due to the cuts in guidance counsellors and the impact of that measure? Those cuts were at second and third level. The Minister has rightly pointed this out and I am glad he has acknowledged it. That is the reason.

I know the HEA is trying to improve practice, but I believe that the Action Plan for Education is quite ambiguous on the issue. It commits to no more than establishing a working group and identifying measures for consideration. Perhaps the Minister could give an update on the progress of the working group. How many meetings has it had? Will there be a report and - a key point - when will it be published? It is not good enough to simply identify measures. We need a clear commitment that action will be taken. We all acknowledge that there are serious problems around non-progression. It may be a good start to commit to the establishment of apprenticeships as identified by the Apprenticeship Council. We know there are skills gaps, as the Joint Committee on Education and Skills heard last week. It is my understanding that only three proposals have been implemented from the 85 proposals that were identified in 2015. The Action Plan for Education promised us ten new apprenticeship programmes to commence at the end of 2016. Clearly this is not the case. Will the Minister commit to providing the funding that is so badly needed? Will the Minister commit to ensuring the new apprenticeships come on stream for September 2017?

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has raised a number of issues. With regard to guidance counselling, 66% of the guidance provision will be back in place by this coming September. It is hoped this will equip young people to make better choices. The Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, has outlined the ambition to treble the number of places on apprenticeships and traineeships over the next four years. This would represent about 20% of the cohort which would have the option of going to an apprenticeship or a traineeship. This would be a dramatic change in the range of options available to young people. Deputy Nolan is right that we also need to look at the role of industry as well as the role of the education sector, and this is why building links between education and industry is very important. We could bring to bear much more information about what jobs are really like in modern enterprise sectors today and we could give young people access to that information during transition year and at other opportunities. One of the things I am hoping to work through the regional fora is getting enterprise more actively involved in that practical guidance.