[…]of the third level student grant is contributing to an increase in drop-out from college and abandonment of qualifications. Laura Harmon, USI President, welcoming the publication of the report, said that the troubling findings are consistent with the arguments of the student movement over many years: “The point of the grant is to provide support to those students who most need it – who don’t have the financial means to put them through a course of education. We’ve said for several years that the falling value of the grant puts more and more pressure on students to make ends meet. […]
[…]arriving back to Ireland later in the Summer and face significant barriers to accessing accommodation and affordable living with these fee increases piling on the pressure. Meanwhile postgrads are again exploited to fill Institutional coffers, disregarding the huge contributions they make to academic life.” Shane De Rís, President of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union, stated that: “College has completely undermined the fee certainty agreement it approved by introducing these fee rises. Students, hit with this unexpected increases in their already high fees, are now unsure if they can afford to return to their studies and, indeed, to Ireland. These students […]
[…]also outlined how it believes no one should be financially disadvantaged for returning to education and so the current rules about repeat periods of study should also be removed. USI Submission to Department of Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science SUSI […]
[…]the USI spoke outside Leinster House on Wednesday 24th at a rally organised with IMPACT trade union and the Labour Party as Senator Ivana Bacik’s bill progresses through the Oireachtas (passing that evening in the Seanad, with all cross-party speakers on the bill bar one in favour of its progression). The USI have circulated to members a save the date notice ahead of the Annual Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) march for choice, which will take place on Saturday September 30th 2017. USI #StudentsForChoice aim to be one of the largest delegations in attendance this year to highlight the need for […]
General: Nominations for the USI officer board elections are closed. For information on candidates, click here. Nominations for the Student Achievement Awards Ireland 2017 are now open. Click here for more information and to enter. USI held a Student Summit pitch competition in Belfast with student start-up Bellamoon going to the final round to win €3,000. Policy and Campaigns: The USI are the only group representing students and young people to have been asked to present to the Citizens’ Assembly on March 5th. This week, our VP Equality & the USI President presented the assembly with a paper, and are preparing further material for the […]
