The 69 per cent rise in the student registration charge announced by the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, in the summer, appears to be the main reason for the rise in education costs.
While 37 per cent of university students were exempt from the charge, all other students were required to pay. Third-level costs are the biggest contributor to the education weighting used by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), so the registration charge was a major factor in the 11.6 per cent rise in education costs for the year.
Under current arrangements, few undergraduate students pay tuition fees, so the registration charge is the main third-level cost. But the CSO said the cost of accommodation for students was also a factor.
The impact of the registration charge on education costs suggests the re-introduction of fees could have a more serious impact on inflation.
The registration charge is €670, whereas full tuition fees could range up to €5,000 per student, depending on the course. At present, the Department of Education is conducting a review of all options on tuition fees. The Minister for Education is expected to publish this review around Christmas.
While the registration charge appears to have had a serious impact, the increased cost of attending fee-paying schools also played a part. While the number of fee-paying schools is relatively small, the rise in fees each year tends to be about 10 per cent.
Fee-paying schools, mainly situated in Dublin, use some of their fee income to hire extra teachers, which helps to keep their pupil-teacher ratios down. The Department played down the importance of the registration charge yesterday.
"The student service or registration charge forms a very small part of the overall education figures as they represent overall costs in the education sector," said a statement.
