School Dropouts, Yellow Pack Universities and Diploma Mills

Education features quite a bit in today's media and none of it is good.  School Dropout Scandal shouts the page one lead in the Irish Independent.  "Disturbing" and "shocking" it may be but it's well established that students from disadvantaged areas and backgrounds drop out early.  The Minister for Education says we could do a lot better.  Sort of smacks of the last FF election manifesto-"...more to do".  The government has had long enough to target the resources where needed and where it could make a difference.  It has simply failed.

The Irish Times had a piece this morning headlined DCU President warns of 'Yellow pack' universities.  Dr Ferdinand von Prondszynski expresses his frustration with government policy and pointed out how even the landmark OECD report on the third-level sector had failed to act as a catalyst for action. "We have had consultations and commitments, but one year on from its publication it is now time for action by the Government." Instead of providing a "quantum leap" in funding, as recommended by the OECD, the Government had delivered only a "grossly inadequate 2.6 per cent increase in core funding".

He continued: "The OECD envisaged increased State funding and the return of fees payments by students. We have got neither. The Government will have to deliver if we are to reverse the otherwise inevitable slide towards a 'yellow pack' university system."  The outspoken DCU president has been an outspoken critic of the Department of Education and Science in the past but he also acknowledged that the seven Irish universities have not always been effective in delivering their message to policymakers.  Von Prondzynski is the current head of the Irish Universities Association, the name for the revamped Conference of the Heads of Irish Universities. 

One wonders what the University bosses would have made of the of the subject of some the questions down for written reply in the Dáil yesterday.  Doubtless they would have been familiar with the recent story about Degree of doubt for Bertie's boffin, which alleged that Barry McSweeney, the government's Chief Scientific Adviser, had purchased an academically worthless degree on the Internet from Pacific Western University, one of the more notorious of the many diploma mills that offer their "degrees" for sale. 

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan (Labour, Limerick East) had a series of questions to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and to the Minister for Education and Science.  Mary Hanafin says that it is "a matter for the employer to ascertain the relevance and status of the qualification for any post irrespective of whether they are in the public or private sector".  So clearly the employer in this case either failed to ascertain the nature of the qualification or it sees no problem with bogus degrees. 

In the course of his answer Micheál Martin said that "the individual concerned" was appointed to the post, which was not the subject of a competitive interview process.  A CV was submitted prior to appointment but obviously no questions were raised about the PhD.  Martin said he had a discussion with the individual concerned and that he was in the process of examining the issues. 

The case for the defence will be that McSweeney has a proven track record as an administrator and communicator in his previous jobs.  That still doesn't explain the fact that nobody raised or was even aware of the dodgy doctorate.  I'm astounded that there isn't some level of awareness of the problem of bogus qualifications and that some kind of register of Internet based "universities" isn't maintained.  Bogus degrees can only undermine the credibility of the scientific expertise that is on offer and will lead to the suspicion that the advice the government is being offered may be tempered by questions of political expediency. 

Comments

[aidanmcnamara]

With reference to CVs...check out my anorak and my pint of Bass, my degrees in the educational sciences, philosophy, economics, my publications and my profund understanding of moral issues from the standpoint of situational ethics. No, I am not missing the point because the qualities of our rulers are no longer an issue. Put down that hurling stick for I have a bath running.