Teknovis

There is an interesting, if not somewhat unpalatable, opinion piece in The Irish Times today about the future of third level education in Ireland: Learning from the global phenomenon of “universities in crises”.

In summary, there are three options presented for the ongoing funding of the Irish universities:

• Increased private sector funding.
• Increased student fees.
• Reduced costs.

I am strongly in favour of the the first and last options, and I think that the idea of student fees should be avoided. As part of reducing costs, I think that the reality of merging some of the universities needs to be considered. (This has to happen in a real sense, and not just in name.)

Tags: Ireland, The Irish Times

IPv4 addresses are due to run-out some time in the next few weeks, so there is growing media attention to this issue. In order to raise awareness, there will be a World IPv6 Day later this year. Many companies are going to temporarily switch to using IPv6, and I assume that is why that date was chosen. It could be very interesting! For more details see: Google, Facebook and Yahoo to test new net addresses.

You can test you own IPv6 readiness here: http://test-ipv6.com/

Finally, for an overview of Irish readiness see Irish IPv6 Task Force.

Tags: Ireland

The inevitable has finally happened – the EU and the IMF have arrived in Ireland to try to resolve the Irish mess. See Talks with IMF to begin tomorrow for more details.

Personally, I am relieved to see them arrive. I think that our inept politicians are not the right people to be trying to fix this mess for the following reasons:

• They are generally inexperienced and uneducated in financial matters (The minister for finance is a solicitor!).
• They oversaw the demise.
• They act primarily in the interest of their developer and banker supporters.
• They are unable to stand-up to a very loud civil service that is only interested in its own welfare.

I expect to see real, and long overdue, reform now!

Tags: Ireland

There is really interesting reading in The top 100 best-paid in education.

I think that to a large extent the Irish third level educational system has become inflated with its own self importance!

Tags: Ireland

I recently described a few changes I would make to second level education in Ireland in Reforming Second Level Education in Ireland.

Today I read the more thought-out educational reforms suggested by Fine Gael (the largest opposition political party) in No more Republic of average.

I do not agree with all of the points. However, I was surprised to see that we have a common vision for the future direction of the compulsory teaching of Irish:

4 Abolish compulsory Irish

I passionately believe that Irish should not be a compulsory subject for the Leaving Cert. Sixteen-year-olds should make up their own mind if they want to study Irish. In my view the destruction of the language is based upon compelling every Irish student to study Irish whether they like it or not.

We need to introduce other European languages at a much earlier stage. Less than 15 per cent of all primary schools provide a modern European language, excluding Irish and English. Our performance in this area is not good enough. Our future success will be based on our students having greater aptitude in all languages. The earlier we offer new languages in the primary curriculum the easier it will be to reach the European average later in a child’s development.

I think the chances of this happening are significantly greater now!

Tags: Ireland

Interesting read, but not really surprising – Computer science courses get highest drop outs – study.

In my personal experience, the biggest cause of drop-outs in computer science is students pursuing computing because they think that it can form a lucrative carer, even though they dislike working with a computer.

Tags: Ireland

I read about a new Irish Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) today called JustMobile. The website is very nicely designed, although it is very low on details. It is an interesting, or should I say a challenging, time to be starting a company, so I wish the founders the best of luck!

The most useful information that I was able to find was in New mobile firm is Just about to launch.

Tags: Ireland, JustMobile

The TM Forum‘s annual showcase event is coming to Ireland in 2011 for the first time! See Management World 2011, and note the greenness :D

That is excellent news!

Hopefully, I will be able to go along to see the action ;)

Tags: Ireland, TM Forum

I was interested to hear that the seven Universities in Ireland will start to award bonus marks to students for taking the highest level of Maths in the Leaving Certificate. Under this new plan students would get an additional 25 points, which is out of a maximum 600. For more information see Bonus points for higher level Maths.

My first impression is that this is a great idea, because it should encourage the uptake of Maths. I think that this country really needs to refocus on Science and Technology in order to remain in the global market. However, it does seem unfortunate that most of the University courses that require high points do not require an ability in Maths (I am thinking of Law, Dentistry, …).

There are also a few additional changes that should be made to second level education:

• Make all Leaving Certificate subjects optional from the school or State’s point of view. Students have the life skills by the time they do the Junior Certificate, so let the Leaving Certificate be about specialisation and choice.
• Make Irish optional in secondary school. In the global economy, and especially in difficult economic times, students should be allowed to choose the subjects that will give both them, and the country, the best chance of success. Yes, it is great to enforce “dead culture”, but I think that most people prefer jobs and income!
• Let the Universities introduce more specific course requirements. For example, Physics could become mandatory for entering an engineering degree. This would enable the Universities to build upon the Leaving Certificate education, rather than having to repeat it for those who choose other subjects.

Unfortunately, I doubt that any of these ideas will ever come into practice due to the slow speed that our education system. Additionally, it seems to me that teachers are against all change unless they are financially compensated.

Tags: Ireland

The Irish Courts have said no to the music industries ridiculous demands for policing users’ activity! See Record companies lose illegal download case.

Brilliant! Well done to UPC for standing up for its users rights!

I wonder will Eircom reconsider its foolish position of cooperation now!

Tags: Eircom, Ireland, ISP, UPC