The high cost of higher education is forcing less well-off school-leavers into low-paid employment, according to the Union of Students in Ireland.
USI yesterday called on the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, to improve the choices available to school-leavers by providing more assistance for disadvantaged families.
It illustrated the point in a brief protest outside the Minister's office in Dublin's Marlborough Street yesterday. Brightly dressed in a jester's outfit, the union's education officer, Mr Malcolm Byrne, invited passersby to choose from his set of over-sized playing cards, each one representing the options of third-level education - signing on the dole and low-paid work available to school-leavers. Mr Martin's face beamed from the fourth card, the joker.
"For many disadvantaged families, the options are very stark. The maximum grant at third-level is about £45 per week, compared to the £60 a week you get on the dole, or more in low-paid employment," he said.
"We want the Minister to target the disadvantaged, exactly as promised in the Fianna Fail election manifesto."
The president of USI, Mr Colman Byrne, said the Minister's decision to increase the service charge paid by all students from £100 to £250 would put "immense pressure" on those who did not have the resources to pay this charge. "Are these students to be denied their place in college?" he asked. Young people living with their families did not always qualify for full dole, while students "deserved better" than low-income jobs.
"Making such a major decision with very limited resources means that the Government is asking 17and 18-year-olds to gamble with their futures. A government that fails to give a better deal to Leaving Cert students is a Government that does not care about young people," he said.
