asked the Minister for Education if she will reconsider the proposal to bring student teachers in the colleges of education under the higher education grants scheme in view of: (i) the serious fee increase in real terms that this would mean for students and (ii) the consequent implications for prospective applicants from lower income families; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Higher Education Grants Scheme.
635.
Up to now students in colleges of education paid a composite fee which covered tuition and maintenance and a separate grants scheme, which reflected this position applied to them. The proposal in Building on Reality to which I intend giving effect in respect of the general intake of students in 1985, is that new students in the colleges will be charged separately for tution and accommodation and the higher education grants scheme will apply to them. This proposal will have the effect of putting students in colleges of education on the same basis with respect to tuition fees and maintenance costs as other third level students.
The fees for tuition will be broadly similar to those for Arts students in the university sector. The increased cost of attending the colleges will arise from the charges for accommodation and meals which were hither to included in the composite fee.
With regard to the implications for prospective applicants from lower income families I would direct the Deputy's attention to paragraph 5.23 of Building on Reality which deals with students aid and which states:
It is proposed to update the financial provisions of the Higher Education Grant and related schemes which have remained unchanged since 1981. The maintenance element of grants will be increased by 10 per cent in real terms from September 1985; income limits for eligibility will be increased by 5 per cent in real terms from the same date; both will be indexed to the rate of inflation thereafter. Account will also be taken of the National Planning Board's recommendations regarding grants for partial payment of fees and a more gradual tapering of eligibility limits.