Third level education doesn’t just impact students, as parents tend to garner most of the financial burden – especially when it comes to migrant families.
That was one of the stronger messages from ‘Realising the Promise of a Diverse Ireland: A Dialogue on Intercultural Policing and Access to Third Level Education’, held at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle earlier this month.
The workshop was a collaboration between Metro Éireann and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University in the USA. Obstacles, potential solutions and compromises pertaining to third-level education were all discussed to help brainstorm ways to make higher learning more accessible to migrant students.
Fees were deemed to be the primary culprit, while lack of communication was a similarly large problem.
At second level, migrant families – like everyone in Ireland – don’t have to pay any fees, but once they reach third level they are confronted with costs they had never heard of before, said panellist Ann O’Brien, director of access at NUI Maynooth.
Even though migrant families may have lived in Ireland for the majority of their children’s lives, they are still charged non-EU/international fees if they are not from a European Union country. Third level education in Ireland can cost as much as €15,000 per year for non-EU nationals, O’Brien said.
Pastor Edwin Eferetin, who has lived in Ireland for nearly a decade, said he has a 19-year-old currently applying for third level study.
“We have been granted a chance to stay in this country and have integrated in the system,” said Pastor Eferetin. “It’s not fair that we are charged international student fees even though we are residents paying taxes.”
However, O’Brien said there is no denying education is an institution, and everything has to be set within a framework.
“It’s all about money, we can’t ignore that,” she said. “We are trying to work with people, but it’s far more difficult since resources are dwindling. How do you manage that? The world is conspiring against us at this time.”
She continued: “Sometimes, I feel powerless in these decisions, and at times it seems bleak. It’s harder and more difficult, but we need to remember that it’s about people not systems. There are students involved.”
O’Brien added that she and her colleagues are “trying to create change within an institution, but that comes in small, incremental pieces.”
Anne O’Mahony from the Department of Education and Skills pointed out that in spite of the economic downturn, minority groups have increased in numbers within second level education. But she recognised the system has many problems if families cannot afford for their child to attend a college or university.
“Fees are a very, very complex issue,” she said. “I don’t know how to address this issue, but if someone is at the top of their class and aren’t able to attend third level then that’s a problem for Irish society.”
Alyssa Goldman is a journalism student from the United States and is currently an intern at Metro Éireann.
