THIRD-LEVEL FEES are off the agenda and will remain so during the Government’s lifetime, Minister for Education Mary Coughlan said yesterday.
However, in a move to reassure students and parents over the fees issue, she again failed to rule out a further increase from 2011 in the €1,500 student registration charge. The revised programme for government, agreed between Fianna Fáil and Green Ministers last year, promised there would be no student fees.
The Tánaiste’s announcement drew criticism last night from the former president of DCU, Ferdinand von Prondzynski.
Writing in his blog, he said: “What is this statement about? The only thing that the Tánaiste can have intended with her statement was to send out some general mood music to reassure those worried about fees, presumably in particular middle-class voters. Otherwise, what was the point?
“Or are we to see this as a general statement of intent suggesting longer-term Fianna Fáil opposition to fees, maybe beyond the next general election?”
Gary Redmond, president of the Union of Students in Ireland, said the Government should rule out increasing the registration fee. It should also rule out any “graduate tax”, which has been suggested by Fine Gael.
“Despite persistent calls by USI to the Tánaiste to rule out any further increase to the student services charge, the Tánaiste has, so far, refused to do so. Further increases of student services’ charge will place entering and staying in third level beyond the reach of many families.”
Aengus Ó Snodaigh of Sinn Féin said an increase in the registration fee would be “nothing short of a scandal, especially considering the record number of CAO applications and the huge cost of third-level education for students and families . . . it would amount to little more than fees in disguise”.
As student numbers rise, colleges are planning for a financial crisis. This year demand for college places has surged, with final CAO figures showing a 4 per cent increase in applications for level-8 or higher-degree courses. Latest projections indicate that numbers at third level are set to double over the next 20 years to 290,000 students by 2030.
Budget cutbacks in colleges and institutes of technology have led to a drop in staff numbers. Meanwhile, a commitment in last year’s revised Programme for Government to appoint additional teachers at primary and post-primary levels means that the third-level sector is expected to bear the brunt of cutbacks in the forthcoming budget.