The mental health and wellbeing of our students is one of my priorities particularly against the backdrop of the intensified stresses and pressures impacting on our students arising from their experiences in seeking to pursue their studies primarily on an online basis during the pandemic. I appreciate this is a time of considerable stress and concern for third level students, but students should be aware that the challenging and stressful circumstances they are facing are being taken into account by Higher Education Institutions as they adapt and respond to the changing situation.
However the allocation of on-campus accommodation is a matter for the higher education institutions themselves, in line with their institutional autonomy. As such, queries about the accommodation allocation policy of any institution is best answered by the institution themselves.
A Working Group for Student and Learner Wellbeing and Engagement (SLWE) was established in January 2021, chaired by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), and comprising representatives from across the Tertiary Education Sector. The purpose of the SLWE group has been to further reflect on the challenges facing student and learner wellbeing and engagement as a result of COVID-19 and to identify existing and further measures to address these. The proposals identified by their group are currently under consideration by the Department and individual providers, with a view to developing a further sectoral response appropriate to the needs of students and learners.
In 2020, I secured a comprehensive package of financial supports from Government for the higher education and further education and training sectors to mitigate the impact of Covid. This package included funding of €3m to underpin wellbeing and mental health and student services in our higher education institutions (HEIs) which was in addition to the €2m funding that was allocated in Budget 2020 and funding that institutions already provide for these services.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) requested that the HEIs distribute this funding in support of specific student facing areas such as the recruitment of additional student counsellors, and implementation of the National Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Framework, which I launched last year.
This Framework is Ireland’s first ever national approach to address student mental health and suicide prevention. It recognises the many challenges students face, and sets out ways in which institutions can support and respond through working proactively to maximise mental health and wellbeing. The Framework provides clear guidance to higher education institutions regarding implementation of good practices in responding to student mental health difficulties.
