Under the 2010 budget, new applicants in the Back to Education Allowance scheme will no longer be entitled to student maintenance grants.
Previously under the scheme, those who have an income of less than €22,308 (some of which must be a form of Social Welfare payment) are entitled to a ‘top-up’ grant payment of €3,270 if living more than 20km from the place of study, or €1,310 if closer.
Let’s take an example based on cases that have come before the Students’ Union in NUI Galway recently. Someone who is 30 and is married with one child, living in Sligo town and unemployed for three years wants to begin a law degree this September under the Back to Education scheme.
The applicant’s income from various Social Welfare payments is approximately €18,000. Up until December he was expecting to receive a top-up maintenance grant of €3,270 in addition to a regular non-adjacent maintenance grant of €3,420.
However, with the changes under the budget, he is not entitled to receive either of these grants. This is a drop in expected income of €6,690, which represents a cut of 27.1 per cent. And this does not even take into account the five per cent general reduction in Social Welfare and grant rates that occurred in the budget.
These cuts to student supports are way out of line with those suffered by others in society under the budget. Not only do they represent at least a 27 per cent cut in income for prospective students in September, but they also will leave many on the dole queues instead of getting back into education to re-train for when the economy picks up again.
We have thousands of people made unemployed with families to support who are trying to get off welfare and get a college degree and work instead, but this decision by the Government will make it incredibly difficult for them to afford to do so now.
The NUI Galway Students’ Union calls on the government to reverse this drastic cut in student supports which will only leave more people long-term unemployed’.
Emmet Connolly
Vice-President/Education Officer
NUI Galway Students’ Union
