Once again, nurse education is to the forefront in the angst stakes. An upset mother (and it's always the mothers who deal with these problems) wanted to know why nurses are about to become the exception to the free fees rule. It appears that the new full-time add-on degree, due to begin at UCG in January 1998, is to be the only full-time undergraduate course in a State-funded college in the Republic that will not qualify for free fees.
Pioneering students in UCG have just finished the three-year full-time diploma. They are the first graduates of the new college-associated diploma which is now offered in 17 general nursing schools in association with various colleges. So the fees question will eventually filter through to affect the 900 or so students who will begin the diploma this year.
Any fees associated with the three-year diploma programme are paid to the colleges by the health board or hospital and students receive a non-means tested grant of £2,500 per annum, again paid by the health board or hospital.
The application literature for the diploma states that the degree is an optional post-registration qualification. Entry is open to those who successfully register with An Bord Altranais and gain the diploma in nursing.
"Since the degree programme is optional, nurses will be responsible for making their own arrangements for admission to, attendance at and the costs associated with such programmes," says the literature. A spokesman for the Department of Health reiterated this statement. The Department of Education also said that the add-on degree would not qualify under the free fees initiative.
However, the mother who contacted Points Race made the point that the programme was being sold as a diploma/ degree course. The deputy general secretary of the Irish Nurses' Organisation, Mr Liam Doran, said "the question of fees and the cost of uptake of the fourth year of the diploma/degree has yet to be finalised".
The fees office at UCG could not inform Points Race if fees would be charged, so the decision may not have reached it yet.
Mr Doran said the INO "has not accepted, and will not accept, that fees must be paid". The INO is acting on the presumption that nursing would become the only such degree programme where fees would not be covered.
In effect, the one-year full-time programme is being treated as a postgraduate qualification, although it falls into the undergraduate category. A similar argument might be made about certificate and diploma courses which effectively qualify their graduates as technicians. So, the add-on degree, which is often a two-year programme, is optional.
If graduates of RTC Sligo's national diploma in engineering can proceed to a B.Sc in quality assurance and qualify for free fees, why can nurses not proceed to a degree and qualify for free fees?
The new college-associated programme has been billed as the flagship for Irish nursing education, replacing the old apprenticeship-type model. New entrants should be aware of the possible sting in the tail.
Nursing and the NUI
Back to applicants for the first year of the nursing diploma course . . .
A furious guidance counsellor said the Nursing Applications Centre was imposing NUI entry requirements but not giving applicants the benefit of the compensation arrangements which are in place for NUI colleges. One of her students got an E in a higher-level Leaving Cert paper but failed to get a place. If she were entering an NUI college for a degree course, she could have compensated for this result.
A spokesman for Price Waterhouse, which is project-managing the applications process, said the rules prescribed certain levels in the Leaving Cert and if people didn't get these, there was no allowance for compensation.
A review of all the operations of the Nursing Applications Centre, including the entry requirements, is under way and there may be changes.
Still with diploma applications, there have been glitches processing up to 2 per cent of applications, mainly due to forms being filled out incorrectly. The Nursing Applications Centre pointed out that it could only work with the information supplied. So, if you think you should have been offered a place, contact the NAC help-desk at 1 800 20 20 40. There will be a second round of offers once the first round of acceptances has been processed.
Vacant places
Good news for third-level hopefuls. There are now 31 courses on the CAO's vacant places list. These are open to applicants who have already applied through the CAO in 1997, whether or not you have been offered or accepted another course. They are also open to people who have not applied through the CAO this year.
If you have already applied, write immediately to the CAO quoting your CAO application number, the course code and order of preference if you are applying for more than one course. There is no fee. If you have not already applied, write immediately to the CAO to request an application form which must be completed and returned to the CAO with a fee of £18.
The following colleges have vacant places:
Cork RTC
CR116 Software development and computer networking
Carlow RTC
CW097, process instrumentation and control; CW099, accounting and management studies; CW048, business (Kilkenny campus); CW049, computing (Kilkenny campus); CW096, office information systems (Kilkenny campus); CW093, business (Wexford campus); CW094, computing (Wexford campus); CW095, office information systems (Wexford campus)
UCD
DN022, arts (modular); DN023, arts (single subject)
Letterkenny RTC
LY002, Institute of Accounting technicians; LY005, coras eolais oifige; LY007, business studies/ languages and European studies; LY008, civil engineering; LY009, construction studies; LY010, electronics; LY011, mechanical engineering; LY014, applied chemistry; LY015, design, graphics; LY016, design, industrial design; LY039, electronics and computer engineering
Sligo RTC
SG103, languages and marketing (German); SG104, languages and marketing (Spanish); SG132, European business (German); SG133, European business (Spanish); SG303, mechanical engineering; SG306, electronic engineering; SG431, analytical chemistry
Dundalk RTC
DK001, electronics (product development); DK010, manufacturing engineering. Applicants for the design graphics and industrial design courses in Letterkenny RTC will be invited to a portfolio assessment.
Tralee RTC also informs us that it has vacant places on the national certificate in science (aquaculture). Applications should be made through the CAO vacant places procedure.