Higher third level fees are not the answer
Ucas – the organisation in charge of managing applications to UK’s higher education institutions – stated recently that applications from British students for courses starting this autumn were down by 8.9 per cent overall compared to 2011.
Region by region, the highest drop of 10 per cent was recorded in England, followed by a 5 per cent decline in Northern Ireland, 3 per cent in Wales and 2 per cent in Scotland. Population wise, this means that 50,000 fewer students applied for admission compared to last year.
Attempts by the opposition Labour Party to link the worrying statistics to the sharp rise in tuition fees were slammed by the British government, with University Minister David Willetts claiming this year’s numbers are “the second highest on record” and that thousands more are yet to apply. But we strongly believe, as Labour’s Shabana Mahmood stated, that the high tuition fees, especially in England, are “hitting young people and their aspirations”.
It is near impossible for what is in some cases as tripling of university fees not to have a negative effect on the numbers applying for admission and going to university. And it doesn’t take much experience for politicians to understand that the consequences of low intake in higher education would be detrimental to the effective functioning of British society in the future.
It is on this note that we urge the Irish Government not to follow the example of the UK in handling the high cost of education in Ireland, if we are to develop our society beyond this modern-day Great Depression.
