Yes, third-level graduates should ‘pass the torch’

LONG before many of our people had the benefits of third-level education, there was a strong culture of “pay-back” in our daily working lives. People in professions, trades and indeed in jobs rated as rather ordinary, extended a helping hand to younger colleagues. It was a kind of unwritten code: you got help starting out – now it is your turn to help a newcomer to the business.

The spin-off from that kind of culture was continuity in the workplace and a good deal of beneficial fellow feeling. It is simply part of the price of being a member of the human race.

On that basis many people will applaud the comments of new NUI Galway president Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh when he called upon graduates of that hallowed centre of learning to remember to give something back. Mr Ó hÓgartaigh has said he would like to see a growth in the culture of alumni giving back to their universities in Ireland.

Clearly, this would help fund the education of current third-level students in a sector which is already facing a serious funding challenge.

We know the NUIG president is not advocating this as a replacement of taxpayer funding and that it must be seen in a broader context.

We must not forget the broader cultural importance of third-level education for any country. But we must also never forget that access to college also increases future earning power and that this brings obligations.