Madam, – It looks like third-level fees are up for grabs again soon, undoing any gains made in the direction of third-level education for all.
Publicly funded, so-called “private” or “fee-paying” schools support the reproduction of the elites at the cost of those being hit hard by unemployment and public sector cuts in pay and services. In 2008 this sector received €100 million of taxpayers’ money (Front page, January 20th, 2009) a figure in the region of expected savings with the reintroduction of third-level fees.
While those who are pinned to the collar struggle to pay existing “registration” fees for third level, and face the real threat of full fees for access to third-level education, the wealthy(ier) are subsidised to reproduce their advantage.
Yet another paradox to the dominant yet meaningless mantra “sharing the pain”. – Yours, etc,