Eric J. Byrne
Question:8 Mr. E. Byrne asked the Minister for Education the steps, if any, she is taking to facilitate mature students in third level education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21306/96]
Written Answers. - Mature Students.
As indicated in the White Paper on Education, Charting our Education Future, I am committed to developing initiatives to facilitate participation by mature students and part-time students in third level education within available resources. A number of measures in recent years have benefited mature students: improvements have been made in the student support arrangements to extend them to mature students and to enable these students to be assessed on their own means; mature students also benefit from the free fees initiative and from the provisions allowing tax relief on fees for certain third level courses and there are also special arrangements to enable mature students to train as primary teachers.
The Higher Education Authority, in co-operation with third level institutions, is promoting the co-ordinated development of a system of modular course structures and related credit transfer arrangements. Such flexibility in course structures has the potential to facilitate access and enable mature and part-time students to study for qualifications while remaining in full-time employment.
The Steering Committee on the Future Development of Higher Education was asked to examine the participation levels of mature students in higher education. The committee identified certain difficulties for these students and made a number of recommendations which it felt would alleviate these difficulties. The Higher Education Authority is currently considering proposals from the universities for funding in regard to mature students in the context of the report of the steering committee.
The report also recommended that mature students as a proportion of full-time entrants to third level education should be progressively increased from a level of about 1,000 full-time students in 1993-94 to 2,200 by the year 2000. Over 6,200 additional university places will be created by the year 2000 by the joint private sector-Exchequer £60 million capital initiative. Over the same period, a further 1,000 places will be created in the regional technical college-DIT sector with the establishment of the first phases of Dún Laoghaire Regional Technical College and Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute with funding from the 1994-99 European Regional Development Fund programme. The creation of these additional third level places by the end of the century will enable mature student intake to third level to increase.