Wednesday 24 May 2000, Dublin Castle
The HEEU was delighted to be involved, along with DCU, NUI Maynooth and WIT, in organising this important education conference that was held in Dublin Castle on Wednesday 24 May 2000. The focus of the conference was on key issues now facing the education sector &endash; principally on the issues and challenges relating to widening participation in higher education and on the role of academia in facilitating learners, including new types of learners, and new arrangements for learning. The aim of the conference, targeted at decision-makers, academics and others involved with higher education in Ireland, was to inform and to influence institutional change in direction and policy.
The conference was addressed by Willie O’Dea, T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science and by a diverse range of speakers, including leading figures from the education, public, private, business and voluntary sectors. They each drew on their own experiences in responding to the challenges and opportunities of inclusion and diversity in higher education. In a series of keynote presentations a number of issues were raised and debated. These included the challenges that will be faced by the higher education sector due to the expected decline in the number of school leavers entering higher education in the coming years; the role that universities can play in promoting values of understanding and co-operation in a multi-ethnic and diverse society was emphasised, as was the challenge of meeting non-traditional students’ requirements in an era of rapidly expanding technological developments. Suggestions that university funding be related to their commitment to and achievement of targets on issues of equity, equality and life-long learning were also made. The 200 delegates at the conference joined in the debate in a discussion session and after lunch assembled into five workshops, to concentrate further on particular issues currently facing higher education. Many of the critical themes currently facing the education sector were addressed in these workshops on diversity and inclusion; learning from experience; ‘greying’ the campus; changing the culture of the university and learner empowerment.
The conference provided a timely focus on the challenges facing higher education. However, much work remains on furthering the issues raised and in preparing the conference presentations and discussions in accessible formats for to all those who wish to peruse them.
Below is a photograph from the Millenium Conference
Caption: Anne Jordan, WIT; Ann O’Brien, NUI Maynooth; Willie O’Dea, T.D Minister of State for Education; Maeve O’Byrne, DCU; Jacqui O’Riordan, HEEU