The government today announced an additional €3 million in funding as part of a national plan aimed to improve access to education.
The funding, announced today by the Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan, and Tánaiste Joan Burton, will provide €1.5 million to the Student Assistance Fund, the national fund used to help students with financial difficulties, €500,000 to a fund for students with disabilities, and another €1 million to “promote enrolment in initial teacher education programmes by students from under-represented groups”.
This €3 million is understood to be the same €3 million that was announced on budget day in October. Then, the government told the Union of Students in Ireland that all of the funds would go to the Student Assistance Fund, something Sinn Féin referred to as a “vague commitment”.
The funding was announced at the launch of the National Plan of Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2019 earlier this afternoon, which is comprised of five goals intended to assist the participation of underrepresented groups in third-level education. The goals specifically target students with disabilities, mature students, and members of the travelling community.
The specific targets include increasing the number of of travellers at third level from 35 to 80, the number of new entrants with disabilities from six to eight per cent, and increasing the number of unskilled or semi-skilled workers at third level from 26 to 35 per cent, among others.
Speaking at the launch, O’Sullivan said: “This fund is a key support for students who experience temporary financial pressures in college. It can often be the difference between a student deciding to stay in or dropping out of college.”
The Department of Education, in a press release, said that the plan formed part of a wider series of reforms planned within the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, complementing the System Performance Framework, which measures the progress of third-level institutions in terms of widening opportunities for those in under-represented groups.
The President of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union, Lynn Ruane, was present at the launch in Marino College. Ruane became a student of Trinity through the Trinity Access Programme, which encourages those from underrepresented socio-economic groups to attend university.
