Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 55: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills noting the Higher Education Authority document Towards a Future Higher Education Landscape and the success of the institutes of technology, RTCs over forty years in enabling hundreds of thousands of students to be the first in their family to access higher education and to graduate from IOTs, RTCs if he will outline his plans to ensure that this access is maintained and the resources which will be provided to ensure that high quality third level education will continue to be provided in the regional clusters proposed. [19493/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The landscape documentation describes a future higher education system which can meet a diversity of needs. This includes Institutes of Technology developing and strengthening their role within their current designation. The building of regional collaborative clusters of all our higher education institutions is key to the delivery of many of the most important objectives of the National Strategy including achieving a more coherent, higher quality education system that is more responsive to the needs of students and enterprise. Regional clusters will allow programmes of teaching and learning to be better planned and coordinated, resources to be used more efficiently and more flexible student pathways and better progression opportunities to be put in place. These improved regional educational pathways will mean better access opportunities for our students.

Question No. 56 answered with Question No. 30.