More on tuition fees…
On Monday morning of this week I was interviewed on RTE’s Morning Ireland on the topics of access to universities of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and tuition fees. In fact these topics are closely related. I believe that one of the reasons why as a country we neglect the support of less well-off students is because we spend too much money paying for the wealthy. That would not matter – in theory at least – if we had so much money that we could pay for the rich and still have lots of money to support those with modest resources.
If we were a developing country whose universities were needed to provide a basic up-skilling of a poorly educated population, universal free access would make good sense. But we are a country that needs to persuade the world – and international investors in particular – that Ireland is a centre of expert skills and has the high value research needed for a knowledge society. That is expensive, and more expensive than can effectively be resourced by the taxpayer alone. All these ambitions become even more important during difficult economic times, and so now is the time for some courageous decisions. I hope that our politicians will give the lead, so that we can be international leaders, and also give proper support to the disadvantaged at the same time.
Tags: innovation, tuition fees, university access
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July 10, 2008 at 3:25 pm
It certainly is expensive to run a higher education sector and the latest news about cutbacks in third level as part of the government’s new economic strategy is very worrying indeed. I wonder though if the fees issue is not more of a red herring than many people in Ireland seem to realise. What you are advocating is fee income to be used as additional funding on top of the existing state subvention, but what can easily happen is that the state (and this is the case abroad) on introducing fees immediately lowers its subvention thus negating any potential gain, unless universities then also become able to charge any price they wish.
Interestingly, the new government in Scotland’s first act in coming to power last May was to immediately abolish the de-facto fee system they had in place there. They did this on the point of principle that their party’s ‘ideology’ believes that education is a fundamental right and should therefore be free to all. I only make this comment to point out that international practices and attitudes vary considerably and we shouldnt believe that there is just one way of tackling this issue or that fees themselves are either inevitable or the solution to the funding problem.
I’ll admit to a certain personal perspective on this issue since I am one of those from a so-called ’socio-economically disadvantaged’ background who could only attend university because of no fees, and indeed a student maintenance grant. Complex systems of bursaries/scholarshops and means testing are not attractive to many people in that situation and are certainly a deterrent. I know that many people from similar backgrounds would also argue that if the cost of a non-stigmatised, universal right to free education is that middle class people also get financial support it might still be a price worth paying considering the alternatives. Remember a fair income tax system will eventually recoup costs, but that’s another story I guess.
July 10, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I don’t think it’s just taxpayers who who are not stepping up the the plate.
I read in the Irish Times (free only now, but still not worth it) that IBEC have an opinion that state investment in technology for education would be a drop in the ocean (the article was also full of misinterpretation about patterns of technology of usage by young peope – but hey, it is IBEC). So why don’t IBEC pay for it then?