Minister of Education and Skills Joe McHugh T.D. today announced an additional €1 million is being/has been allocated to the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) for Professional Master of Education (PME) students who are experiencing financial difficulty. This additional funding is ring-fenced to provide support for students on PME programmes and it is part of the Department’s wider responses to teacher supply issues, as set out in the Teacher Supply Action Plan. USI lobbied for an increase to the Student Assistance Fund as part of their pre-budget submission, as well as ongoing lobby efforts. Reacting to the announcement, USI president Síona […]
[…]€250 and cut the income threshold by 3%. Both measures will affect thousands more students than today’s announcement will help. The Minister knows this, just as he knows that the SAF requires €12million to meet the demand currently being placed on it. USI is calling on the Minister to commit to providing adequate resources for the SAF at a time when it faces unprecedented demand. This fund is an emergency option for students on the brink of dropping out. If it runs out of money, so do they.” -ENDS- For more information contact USI Media and Communications Executive, Ronan Costello, on 085-1164263 […]
[…]take caution when viewing properties to rent for the upcoming academic year. The unfortunate truth is that people are taking advantage of students vulnerability when it comes to the housing crisis and accommodation shortage for students in third level education, and profiting off their struggle to find housing. Always view the property in person before putting down any form of deposit, meet with your potential landlord and find out if they are registered with the RTB (residential tenancies board).” FraudSMART has set out the following advice to help students avoid falling victim to rental scams: Be Informed: Do […]
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is today calling on IT Tallaght to reverse the decision to close the créche on campus, or parents will be forced to dropout of college. IT Tallaght announced their campus créche would close after public tendering did not locate a new provider meeting the college’s criteria this month. USI President Michael Kerrigan raised concern about the closure stating, “Student-parents are usually working part-time, with many juggling studies, family life and maybe other caring responsibilities. Childcare is the greatest source of angst for most student-parents, because of the financial and the organisational demands. With […]
