A £63 million sterling three-year financial and education package aimed at increasing access to third-level colleges has been unveiled by the North's Minister for Higher and Further Education, Dr Sean Farren.
Speaking at yesterday's Union of Students in Ireland congress in Ennis, Co Clare, he said he would introduce means-tested bursaries of up to £1,500 sterling annually for undergraduates whose parental residual income was £15,000 or less. "It is estimated that some 14,000 such bursaries will be taken up, over a third of the full-time student population."
He said an additional 1,000 higher education places, on top of the 4,400 already announced in the Programme for Government, would be provided "in disciplines regarded as important for economic development".
He also intended to raise the residual income threshold at which a student contribution towards tuition fees becomes due. "This will have the effect that over 50 per cent of students will not be paying anything towards the cost of their tuition and a further 25 per cent to 30 per cent will only pay a partial contribution."
He said a childcare grant to assist students on low incomes and with dependent children would also be introduced, subject to a maximum of £100 sterling per week for one child or £150 sterling per week for two or more children.
In addition, tuition fees for full-time students aged over 19 in a broad range of vocational courses at levels 2 and 3 would be abolished.
"In combination with fee abolition, I propose to introduce around 3,000 discretionary further education access bursaries on a sliding scale of up to £1,500 each for full-time students over 19 dependent on residual income levels."
Student delegates at the congress called on Dr Farren to abolish university tuition fees outright. Mr Julian de Spainn, USI president, said education was a public service and should be provided through general taxation. "If the Government were to impose fees for the use of public health services, it would rightly provoke widespread public outcry. In just the same way, education should be treated as a service free at the point of delivery."
He said there were no tuition fees in Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg, Austria, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, France or in the Republic.