Lecturers seek rethink on technological universities plan

The Irish Times 07 November 2014

Lecturers at institutes of technology in Ireland are urging the government to rethink its insistence on college mergers before they can gain university status, writes Joe Humphreys for The Irish Times.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland or TUI, which represents 4,000 lecturers and researchers in institutes of technology, said it remained “unconvinced” by the rationale behind the merger plan. It was commenting after Waterford IT’s shock decision last week to withdraw from negotiations on a merger with IT Carlow.

Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan has told the two institutions to resume talks as a merger was necessary if they wished to be designated a technological university for the southeast. Half of lecturers polled by the TUI earlier this year said they were opposed to mergers and wanted their institute to remain standalone.
Full report on The Irish Times site

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