Students must face up to hike in tuition fees, minister warns

“It is ‘almost inevitable’ that the cap on student fees in Northern Ireland will be increased, the new Employment and Learning Minister has warned …” (more)

[Kathryn Torney, Belfast Telegraph, 26 November]

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Gifted university teacher served governments in many public roles

“John Murray: John Murray, who has died aged 62, was a gifted teacher renowned for his piercing intellect and charm. As the established professor of business at Trinity College, Dublin, he was one of the leading business academics in the country and was well known throughout the business community …” (more)

[Irish Times, 27 November]

Schools told to cut non-teacher staff pay

“The Department of Education has instructed schools to cut the pay of up to 17,000 secretaries, caretakers, cleaners and other non-teacher staff …” (more)

[RTÉ News, 26 November]

Interesting times for English universities

“Over the past few days, the British Minister of State for Universities and Science has been making various statements designed to map out the future direction of English higher education …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 27 November]

Third level cuts will hamper smart economy

“The future of Ireland’s smart-economy is looking decidedly bleak after the beleaguered Irish Government confirmed earlier this week that it intends raising the college registration fee to €2,000 and adding grant cuts to the list of austerity measures facing the Irish third level sector in the new year …” (more)

[Daniel O’Carroll, Cork Student News, 26 November]

Why researchers should blog

“As a forum for sharing research ideas among fellow researchers, blogging is not that popular among college and university professors. On the campus where I work, only a handful of faculty blog about their scholarly pursuits. I suspect that’s probably the case on your campus, too …” (more)

[Higher Ed Marketing, 26 November]

GMIT academics to raise issue of cheating students

“Academic staff at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) are expected to express serious concerns about incidents of students’ plagiarism and how they were handled within the college, at an Academic Council meeting today …” (more)

[Dara Bradley, Galway City Tribune, 26 November]

Only 713 Higher Education Grants awarded in Cork out of 5,926 applications

“Cork Fine Gael TD Deirdre Clune has highlighted that more than two months into the college year of 5,926 applications in Cork for Higher Education Grants only 713 have been awarded …” (more)

[Deirdre Clune TD, 26 November]

Students refusing to end university occupations

“Students occupying universities are still refusing to leave as protests continue over raising tuition fees and cutting higher education budgets …” (more)

[BBC News, 26 November]

Economists question public sector reform plans

“The ability of the Government to cut the numbers of public sector workers and drive efficiencies in the sector, as envisaged in the National Plan, is being questioned by economists …” (more)

[Conor Keane, Irish Examiner, 26 November]

Laws may block tackling student grant backlog

“Data protection laws may prevent councils with backlogs of student grant applications from having them cleared by other local authorities, TDs have been told …” (more)

[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 26 November]

Is industry funding of university research dangerous?

“Last year in this blog I published a post in which I raised various questions about links between universities and industry, and in particular whether industry funding for university research can compromise academic integrity …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 26 November]

Student Fees Survey … The results are in

“The four-year plan has been set and it looks like student registration fees will increase from €1,500 to €2,000 from next year. But surely this is just fees through the back door and there is also no guarantee that students won’t face another hike in fees over the next couple of years …” (more)

[Lisa Marie Griffith, Pue’s Occurrences, 26 November]

The regeneration game

“The recently announced Science Foundation Ireland funding of almost €10 million for the Regenerative Medicine Institute (Remedi) at NUI Galway could pave the way for clinical trials of new therapies and treatments for diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and osteoarthritis …” (more)

[Irish Times, 26 November]

Teachers under fire for ‘crazy’ decision to let pupils join violent tuition fees protests

“Teachers faced a growing backlash from parents yesterday over their ‘crazy and irresponsible’ decision to let children skip school to join violent protests against rises in tuition fees …” (more)

[Daily Telegraph, 25 November]

Fifth of student grants not processed

“Some 21% of student maintenance grants have not been processed, Department of Education figures reveal. The figures released to Fine Gael’s education spokesman Fergus O’Dowd show three months into the college year nearly 13,000 out of the almost 60,000 applications have not been processed …” (more)

[Irish Times, 25 November]

From primary to college, students are targeted

“Pupils from five years old to teens in university will feel the pain of the cuts in the education budget for years to come. No student will escape the impact of the Four Year Plan …” (more)

[Claire Murphy, Herald, 25 November]

Italian student protesters occupy Leaning Tower of Pisa

“Italian students protesting at education reforms have targeted two top tourist attractions, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Colosseum …” (more)

[BBC News, 25 November]

DCU Rejects USI: A Cause For Concern?

“In the weeks immediately following the National Student March in Dublin, DCU held a referendum asking its students whether they wished to re-affiliate with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) …” (more)

[The Student Observer, 25 November]

Daithi Linnane: March can still make a difference

“Students still haven’t given up hope that their protest can make a difference, according to UCCSU Deputy President Daithi Linnane …” (more)

[Cork Student News, 25 November]