THOUSANDS OF Cork third-level students have left the Minister for Education in no doubt about their strong opposition to fees and further cuts in the educational system.
The students from University College Cork and Cork Institute of Technology, who took part in a protest rally yesterday, managed to get through to the personal mobile phone of Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe.
CIT students union president Gearóid Buckley rang the Cork-based Minister from the podium in Grand Parade where the protesters had assembled at lunchtime.
The phone was answered by Mr O’Keeffe, who was informed that he was talking to 6,000 angry Cork students who proceeded to roar into the phone “No to fees, No to Fianna Fáil”.
Mr Buckley said: “The Minister for Education has cut communication with students unions across the country, he will not discuss fees with us. Today, he will talk to us.” He called out the Minister’s mobile phone number from the podium and asked every student in the crowd to send him a text message saying “no fees”.
Mr Buckley declined to say how he managed to get hold of Mr O’Keeffe’s mobile number.
He said: “Students are already struggling with the €1,500 registration fee and the cost of accommodation and books. Now they may be facing tuition fees of between €6,000 and €9,000. Today, we say we have had enough and the students of UCC and CIT stand united against this Government’s proposed fees and cutbacks.”
Mr Buckley said in the past few weeks, six students told him they had to drop out of college due to the increase in the registration fee from €900 to €1,500.
President of the UCC students union Eoin Hayes said that as well as the increase in registration fees and the mismanagement of the grants system, students at UCC now had to pay €80 just to graduate from 2010.
