Students take to the streets

THOUSANDS of local students descended onto O’Connell street last Wednesday (October 19) to take part in a national protest march aimed at increasing Government investment in education.

The demonstration, which was organised by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), attracted an estimated crowd of 10,000 who gathered at the Garden of Remembrance before marching towards Government buildings to lobby against fees and loans. 

The protests were in retaliation to the Government’s mooted model of income-contingent student loan schemes, similar to those seen throughout the UK and US.

USI Vice-President, Jack Leahy, told Northside People that the union strongly opposes student loan schemes and said the Government should, in fact, subsidise third level education throughout the country.

“The crux of the issue is that we have an external report giving us two credible options for the future of third level education,” said Leahy.

“One is to go down a road that we know has severe consequences for students, which isn’t an option, and then the other is that the report makes clear that we can actually afford to be ambitious in terms of public funding.

“What the report makes clear is that the difference between funding the fully exchequer funded model and what the State would still have to pay to run the student loans is €300 million.

“Now sums like €300 million are dropped on much less magnanimous gestures within the budget. We know that €750 million in the 2016 budget went on a very small USC cut so it’s certainly something that we can fund through economic growth.”

The march was attended by students from all over the country but the pinch is particularly felt in Dublin were students are subject to the highest accommodation prices in the country.

Niamh and Shauna, DIT students based in Phibsboro and Cathal Brugha Street, told Northside People that finances are a big worry for students and that publicly funded fees would be a big relief for those studying in college.

“Finances are obviously a huge thing for any student and it’s the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning,” said Shauna.

“You think ‘do I have enough money for the bus in the morning’? Or ‘how am I going to pay for food today?’

“Obviously if you have the weight of fees on your shoulders you’re not going to have time to study as hard as you should be studying.”

Niamh added that she’s barely been able to keep herself in college as it is.

“I work every weekend just to try and keep myself in college so it’s hard because you do need that bit of support,” she said.

“The amount of hours is tough because I’m training to be a chef so it’s a lot of work on the weekend.

“The free fees would relieve a lot of the pressure because accommodation is expensive too because there’s an awful lot of competition in Dublin.”

USI will present to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills on December 8 to further lobby the case for state funded third level education.