IRELAND

IRELAND: Review of enrolments as courses merge

The numbers of students attending all of the 1,200 courses across higher education in Ireland is to be reviewed, writes John Walshe in the Irish Independent. Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe confirmed the review last week, saying that it was necessary to see where rationalisation can take place.

O'Keeffe was responding to an Irish Independent revelation that some courses and subjects with small numbers will be merged. The minister stressed there would be no change in the diversity of courses on offer. "We want to ensure that we get the best possible output but at the same time streamline the operation," he said, adding that any voluntary redundancy package for higher education would have to be "cost neutral".
Full report on the Independent site