Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 23 Feb 1994

Vol. 439 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Higher Education Grants.

Mr. E. Ryan

I welcome the Minister's recent announcement on the administration of third level grants. There was a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding when students applied for various grants and this long overdue proposal is welcome.

A number of officially recognised higher education colleges has been providing a very valuable education service for several years. The sector is growing and there are approximately 3,000 students attending these colleges in the Dublin area. However, they are not eligible for higher education grants and a student who may not have succeeded in getting a place in one of the public third level colleges cannot avail of a place in an officially recognised private higher education college because of his lack of means.

The Minister should consider the idea of extending third level grants to officially recognised colleges. There are insufficient places in third level public institutions but the demand for places continues to escalate. Under the present arrangements a person of limited means who fails to obtain a place in a public college is deprived of a place in a private college because of the lack of grant support. If he decides to avail of a place in a private college it places a considerable burden on his family. Academically qualified students who lack parental finance are effectively debarred from competing for places in private officially recognised colleges.

It is necessary to award a grant to students who wish to attend private colleges to address a serious issue of social exclusion in the field of higher education which is rooted in the absence of the means to pay. An alternative that may prove helpful is to lease places in these colleges similar to the way the Minister for Health leased hospital beds in certain areas.

Students from Northern Ireland are awarded grants by the education and library board for approved courses in private colleges in the Republic, however, their counterparts south of the Border are not allowed this support. In addition Northern Ireland students attending degree courses of British universities offered in private colleges in the Republic have been entitled to mandatory grants since the inception of the courses in the Republic but that is not the case for students in the Republic. We need more equitable access to education.

However, the current position vis-à-vis higher education grants for students seeking to attend private colleges compounds inequity and discrimination. It is time for a change in this area.

Minister of State at the Department of Education (Mr. Aylward)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and I appreciate his concerns. It would be difficult to over-emphasise the importance of the student support schemes in the context of our overall third level education system. For this reason the schemes are constantly being amended and improved when possible in the context of overall Government expenditure on third level education.

For the 1992-93 academic year, for example, nearly 46,000 students were in receipt of awards under the various student grants and scholarship schemes compared to just over 12,000 students ten years ago. Overall, in the third level area, well over half the total enrolment of 80,000 students in 1992-93 were in receipt of student support compared with a quarter of all students in 1982-83.

Total student support for fees and maintenance provided by the State in 1993 was approximately £84 million which represented an increase of £9 million or 12 per cent on 1992 expenditure. This increasing expenditure represents the broadening of the scope of the various schemes as, for example, provision was made for the first time in 1992 for mature students. I had the pleasure of steering the legislation in question through the Dáil. Prior to 1992 many mature students could not qualify for grants as they did not have the required academic attainments in the leaving certificate examination. Moreover, the schemes only allowed for parental income to be taken into account for the purposes of the means tests.

The situation now is that mature students who secure a place in third level institutions are automatically considered to meet the academic requirments for the award of grants. Also, mature students are now means tested for grants by reference to their own incomes if they do not reside with their parents. These improvements in 1992 resulted in over 800 mature students being awarded grants under the higher education grants and the vocational education committee scholarship schemes.

Over the past few years several private third level colleges were designated as third level institutions under the National Council for Educational Awards, the NCEA. This means that such institutions may submit their courses to the NCEA for validation and students who successfully complete validated courses have their certificates, diplomas or degrees awarded by the NCEA. There is no implication, however, in such designation regarding the provision of State funding.

There is an argument, however, in favour of students attending validated third level courses in private institutions being eligible for student support grants and this will be taken into account in considering the report of the expert group on grants which was made available to the Department recently. Consideration will have to be given, however, to requiring some form of insurance bonding from such private institutions before State funding could be provided for their students.