03 November, 2006 - UCD at the forefront of change in Irish higher education - Minister Hanafin
The Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, T.D., this evening gave the keynote address at the UCD Foundation Day Dinner in the O'Reilly Hall, Belfield.
Referring to the major challenges facing Irish society in a time of complex and challenging change, Minister Hanafin said that "Ireland needs strong universities and a strong wider network of support for them now more than ever before. The case for seeking to enhance the standing and quality of Ireland's higher education system is absolutely compelling. It can be made from a range of broad social and cultural perspectives. It can be made in the interests of promoting active citizenship. It can be made in the interests of supporting every individual to fulfil their personal potential in life. And it can be made for the very critical importance of higher education in supporting Ireland's economic development objectives in the global knowledge era."
The Minister said that supporting reform and development in higher education was a key policy priority for the Government. She paid tribute to the role of UCD in promoting reform within the sector. "A high performing third and fourth level system is an essential element of our national infrastructure as we seek to lay the foundations for future success. UCD has been to the forefront of third level institutions in accepting the need to respond to that challenge. It has played a leadership role in promoting reform through impressive example."
"For instance, the UCD Horizons initiative, which commenced last year, provides an innovative modularised and semesterised curriculum that allows students greater choice and flexibility in deciding on the pathways they take through their chosen programmes of study. It has become synonymous with student choice, flexibility and educational innovation and has already had a major impact on conventional thinking in relation to undergraduate programme formation", the Minister said.
Minister Hanafin also referred to UCD's growing international reputation as a leading research location as a result of its impressive success in securing Government funding for major collaborative research projects. "The Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre, the Programme for Human Genomics, the Irish Clinical Research Infrastructure Network, the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) and the National Digital Research Centre form a collective infrastructure for cutting edge scientific research that places UCD researchers and students at the very forefront of international efforts to expand the frontiers of our knowledge. This is complemented by a continuing commitment to excellence in humanities and social sciences research exemplified by the Geary Institute, which is establishing a significant relevance internationally." said Minister Hanafin.
"If Ireland's ambitions for social and economic success are to be met in the complex and fast changing world of the 21st century, we need ambitious and innovative thinkers. We need leaders in higher education who will not shirk a challenge. We need universities like UCD that are prepared to match our national ambitions and we need a wider environment of support for our leading universities so that they have the freedom and resources to achieve for us. " Minister Hanafin concluded.
ENDS