The last few weeks have seen an unprecedented wave of student protest spread across the State. More than 10,000 students have participated in demonstrations in Athlone, Sligo, Letterkenny, Dublin and Carlow. Students in the other college towns and cities are putting together their own plans for the coming weeks. They are demanding that the value of student maintenance grants be increased to social-welfare levels. In the last few weeks we have seen students occupying the Department of Education and Science offices and the Dail grounds. This kind of radical action is a sign of the depth of student anger on the issue of inadequate student grants.
The demonstrations have also shown that student protests are no longer a one-day wonder. It is no longer a case of students making one grand gesture and then heading back to lectures.
The reason for this new level of sustained student anger is simple. The student maintenance grant has always been inadequate. However, the last few years have seen its value further undermined by the effect of rising inflation and spiralling rent costs. Just over a third of students are in receipt of a maintenance grant. In general the maximum they can receive is £1,775. The cost of attending college is estimated at up to £5,000. That funding gap ensures that college in Ireland is still outside the reach of many poorer sections of society and that students from families with modest incomes are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. This gap between what the grant provides and the actual costs involved has grown steadily in recent years. This is largely as a result of huge increases in rent costs. The Institute of Auctioneers and Valuers in Ireland (IAVI) has estimated that average rents in Dublin in the last three years have increased by up to 94 per cent. In the same period student maintenance grants have increased by a meagre 9 per cent. Such an unfair situation is having obvious effects both on the third-level participation rate of certain sections of society and on the student experience while at college. Professor Pat Clancy's recent report, Social Background of Higher Education Entrants, shows that Irish colleges are failing to attract sufficient numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The report makes depressing reading. While there has been some decline in inequality since 1980, it is still the case that poorer students are four or five times less likely to go to college than other students. Recent reports have also highlighted the unacceptably high incidence of drop out in our third level college. Some 40 per cent of all students in institutes of technology fail to make it to the end of their course. While the reasons for this phenomenon are complex, finance has been shown to be a contributing factor in many cases.
It is also interesting to note that lack of finance was one of the main reasons given by those who turned down the offer of a college place in a study by the Central Applications Office. But is Ireland unique in having such an appalling system of student financial support? Looking to Europe, we find that our student support system does not compare well with other countries. While it is difficult to draw absolute comparisons between the amounts invested in student support in the various EU member states, a number of points can usefully be made. First, of the 15 EU states all but six (and that six includes Ireland) award assistance to the families of third-level students. Second, looking then at those six countries who give support solely to the student him or herself, we see that the amount given in Ireland as a proportion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the lowest of the group. Ireland gives roughly half of the amount given in Denmark and Sweden. So, what is to be done with a grants system that is becoming increasingly devalued, contributes to college drop-out and compares very unfavourably to other countries? Quite simply, there is a need for substantial extra resources. Speaking in the Dail the Minister for Education and Science has repeatedly stated that he favours increasing the level of maintenance grants in line with available resources. With a projected budget surplus of several billion pounds this year, the time has surely come for a significant increase in the value of the maintenance grant.
The current maximum grant payable is less than £50 per week. Compare this with social-welfare payments: the rate of unemployment benefit is £76 per week. The average rent allowance payments vary from health board area to health board area. It often amounts to some £30 per week.
Of course, a large number of social welfare recipients do not receive rent allowance, as their landlord may be in the black economy. To bring the maintenance grant up to a similar level would mean doubling its present value and an extra £85 million cost to the Exchequer per annum.
So is it a good investment? Investment in Irish education has a proven track-record of offering outstanding results. According to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), the investment in human capital since the 1960s is a significant cause of the current economic prosperity. Education is still a great investment today. In fact, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates the return to the State as 12 per cent.
A sound investment
The economics are sound. Investment in education means that Ireland will attract the kind of international investment that is so crucial for our industrial development. It also means a greater tax-take for the State, as our highly educated graduates will pay a correspondingly high amount of income tax over the course of their careers. Students are fed up with being treated as second-class citizens. Students are entitled to the same basic rights as every other Irish citizen. They have the right to a roof over their heads, adequate financial support and access to education which is not limited by their ability to pay. Our educated workforce is the direct cause of the Celtic Tiger phenomenon. And yet, some people can not afford to go to college, and many others drop out because they can not survive on the disgracefully low grants. The time to address this issue is now. The substantial budget surplus means the old excuse of an empty Exchequer no longer applies. Students have heard all the excuses and are demanding action. In short, students want what is fair and just. The Department of Finance can take heart from the fact that it makes good economic sense.
Julian de Spainn is president of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI).
