When the Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown, comes fully on stream in September 1999, the west Dublin college will probably be the first of its kind.
Traditionally, the RTCs were set up to provide technical training in the regions, and thus to play a role in local development. The new west Dublin college will, however, have a further remit. The proposed Institute of Technology has been described, somewhat unfairly, as a college for the disadvantaged. The reality is that if the recommendations of the planning group are adhered to, the college could well provide a blueprint for future development in the technological sector.
In the future, all colleges will be required to make greater efforts to attract and support students whom the system has traditionally failed. Blanchardstown is the fastest growing area in Dublin and is providing the city with its latest green-field sites for housing and industry. High-tech companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Stratus and 3Com, are flooding in. However, despite the industrial growth, there are vast pockets of disadvantage in the area. Some housing estates have unemployment rates of up to 70 per cent. There are also high rates of early school-leaving. The Blanchardstown third-level planning group reported to Minister for Education and Science Micheal Martin in December. The two major concerns of the group, which they addressed in their report, were the low third-level participation rates in west Dublin and the need for skilled labour in locally based industries. The group's proposals link the two issues: it is understood that, initially, the new college will offer skills-based courses related to information technology. Business studies courses, for example, are not proposed, says a source. It is understood that the report of the planning group recommended the creation of up to 2,000 places in the new college. It is anticipated that between 300 and 400 certificate and diploma places will be available in 1999; foundation places will be available in temporary accommodation from next September. The new college will be required to reach out to the local community to a far greater extent than any college before it. "We are convinced that the college won't be successful in integrating itself into the community unless it gives early school-leavers a second chance to access educational opportunities," stresses Frank Donnelly, chairman of the Blanchardstown Area Partnership. Full-time, part-time and evening courses are needed, he says. The partnership estimates that in the Blanchardstown area there up to 1,000 young people in need of jobs, training and support; 3,000 mature unemployed people who could, with the right training, provide a valuable skills pool; and between 2,000 and 3,000 women who would like to return to work on a part-time basis. Schemes organised by the partnership have proved that the long-term unemployed can be trained successfully and find jobs, Donnelly notes.
The Minister recently launched the second phase of the Institute of Technology initiative, when he announced the setting up of an establishment board for the new college. The board, he said, will be asked to ensure that a "huge proportion" of students are non-standard entrants - that is "mature students, people with disabilities and the unemployed". In order to encourage school retention rates and so increase the numbers going on to third level, the college will be required to work closely with local schools. This approach has been adopted elsewhere at third level; DCU, for example, is involved in a number of projects in the Ballymun area and has recently appointed a full-time access officer.
"It's vital that the college is not allowed to become another institution catering almost exclusively to the middle classes," one observer comments. "It's a unique opportunity for the college, but the correct structures have to be put in place. It will need a focus at managerial level to make it happen. "The question is, how much kudos will be gained from it?"
Both the National College of Industrial Relations and the Institute of Technology in Tallaght made bids to set up the new college, the latter suggesting a federal system which would enable the two colleges to offer a wider range of courses. It is understood that the committee decided that Blanchardstown deserved an independent college on a par with the rest of the technological sector. Leaders of industry are known to have favoured the setting up of an RTC.
