An insider's guide to education

That announcement that third-level colleges will in future compete for additional funding has certainly created a stir. There was some loose talk , earlier this year, that the Government would support a €30 million fund to support "modernisation" in the colleges.

But now the bar has been raised to €70 million, thanks to some adroit spinning by university presidents. Mary Hanafin will be under pressure to deliver this kind of figure from the estimates later this year. Hanafin made a huge impression on the great and the good from the third-level sector at the launch of the new plan. She was helped by an outstanding speech on the future of third-level. Yes, it was too long to deliver at a public event but this speech - which will hopefully become available on the Department's website - is an important reference point for anyone interested in the future of the third-level sector.

The Inspectorate of the Department of Education - led by the ever-impressive Chief Inspector, Eamonn Stack, launched a series of reports last week. There is a real sense that the inspectorate - at last liberated from its role in running the exams - is stepping up to the plate. The number of school and subject inspections has increased significantly, although the Asti was probably a bit OTT when it said this underlined accountability in schools. The flurry of activity by the inspectorate comes as the Supreme Court prepares to deliver judgment in a case - taken by The Irish Times - which should pave the way for the publication of all school inspectors' reports.

Good to see some lively exchanges in the Dáil about support for fee-paying schools. Mary Hanafin called on Fine Gael's education spokeswoman, Olwyn Enright, to clarify her position on the issue. Making a virtue of necessity, Hanafin - who faced questions on the issue recently - expressed shock that the Fine Gaelers would go after schools from the minority religions. It was great stuff. Enright had said that schools that charge a fee for entry should not receive money for day-to-day expenses or refurbishment and building costs.

The education debate could do with a little more spark from Leinster House. Both Enright and Labour's Jan O'Sullivan are formidable figures. It would be good to see them "mixing it" a little more with the Minister.

Got any education gossip? E-mail us, in confidence, at teacherspet@irish-times.ie