‘It’s like winning the lottery’: Relief as Government pledges financial support for Ukrainian college applicants

Hundreds of Ukrainian college applicants living in Ireland will be eligible for grants and free fees for courses in the same way as Irish students from September.

The move follows uncertainty among up to 700 Ukrainian CAO applicants over whether measures introduced last year would be extended into a second academic year.

The Government has been moving away from its initial emergency response to align supports in a similar way to those delivered to Irish citizens.

Earlier this summer, for example, the Department of Further and Higher Education said the continued use of the Erasmus national grant to support Ukrainian students pursuing full-time courses was “under review”.

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This raised fears among the Ukrainian community that a three-year residency requirement would exclude Ukrainian applicants from access to student grants and free fees.

However, in response to a query from The Irish Times on Tuesday, a spokesman for the department said Minister Simon Harris has “confirmed the supports offered to Ukrainian students will be extended to the new academic year. This will include tuition fees and the Erasmus grant”.

The spokesman added: “The Minister is working with Government colleagues and higher education institutions on this matter.”

Olha Maryntseva, a community development worker who has been supporting Ukrainian students in Co Kerry, said the development will come as a huge relief for students.

“I screamed when I heard read the news in a text message just now. The shopkeeper asked had I won the lottery. I said, ‘it feels like that’. This is beautiful,” she said.

“I am back from a 10-day visit to Ukraine. I see the people of my country fighting for a brighter future ... this gives us hope and it allows our students to become academically stronger.”

She has been supporting many students with intensive English classes delivered through a social inclusion programme run by NEWKD (North East West Kerry Development Progamme).

Alexander Beresin, a Ukrainian student living in Tralee, Co Kerry, one of the students who stands to benefit from the announcement, wants to study computing.

The 34-year-old mature student received a CAO offer last week to study computer science at UCC, after completing a course at Kerry College of Further Education.

However, he was unsure until today whether he would be able to take up the degree programme due to uncertainty over the cost of fees and grant support available. He said he is still waiting to hear formal details on how the supports will operate.

“I hope it applies to us as well. Before they had this fees waiver for those who started studying at universities last year, but not for us [from further education courses].

“I was studying to go back to college when the war broke out in Ukraine.,” said Beresin, who lived near Crimea before moving to Ireland. “I worked in hospitality after leaving school, but I was always interested in computer science.”

He said having access to free fees and being eligible for the student grant would make it financially viable to complete the course.

Due to the scarcity and cost of accommodation in Cork, however, he plans to commute back on forth each day by train from Tralee, a four-hour round trip.

“It’s not a problem. You can work on the laptop and get work done. For me, personally, the bigger issue is whether I can afford the fees.”

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